North Korean Hackers Lazarus Group Holds USD 47 Million in Cryptocurrency, Mostly Bitcoin: Report
The report tracked 295 wallets recognised by the US government as belonging to Lazarus Group. However, there is a notable decrease in the amount of crypto held by the group from $86 million on September 6, shortly after the Stake.com hack in which Lazarus was implicated.
New Delhi, September 26: North Korean hackers -- the Lazarus Group reportedly holds over $47 million in cryptocurrency, with most of it in Bitcoin (BTC), a new report has shown. According to the data collected by 21.co subsidiary Dune Analytics, the notorious hacking group's wallets contain about $42.5 million in BTC, $1.9 million in Ether (ETH), $1.1 million in Binance Coin (BNB), and an additional $640,000 in stablecoins, with Binance USD (BUSD) dominant.
The report tracked 295 wallets recognised by the US government as belonging to Lazarus Group. However, there is a notable decrease in the amount of crypto held by the group from $86 million on September 6, shortly after the Stake.com hack in which Lazarus was implicated. Crypto Ponzi Scam: Odisha Economic Offence Wing Busts Rs 1,000 Crore Cryptocurrency Fraud, STA Crypto Token Head and Colleague Arrested.
On September 4, about $40 million was stolen from the crypto casino Stake.com. Although the reported holdings are significant, the researchers believe that the actual amount may be much higher.
The estimate was called a "lower-bound estimation" based on publicly available information, according to the report. "If you have identified or are aware of any other hacks that have been disclosed, please contact us so we can track the assets in this dashboard," the researchers said.
Meanwhile, a recent report revealed that the Group has been held responsible for stealing around $240 million worth of crypto assets in the last 104 days. According to the blockchain surveillance firm Elliptic, the hacking group stole crypto assets from Atomic Wallet ($100 million), CoinsPaid ($37.3 million), Alphapo ($60 million), and Stake.com ($41 million). Cryptocurrency Fraud Case: Crypto Fraudsters Impersonating As Canada Officials Raided by CBI in Delhi; Rs 1 Crore Recovered.
The hacking group has been linked to five major crypto hacks over the past three months. The latest, according to blockchain data, was the global cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx, which was hacked last week for an estimated amount of $53 million.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 26, 2023 07:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).