- Six addresses contained 1,580 Bitcoin (BTC) stolen by the North Korean-backed hacker group Lazarus.
- The FBI said the assets came from attacks on crypto entities such as Alphapo, CoinsPaid and Atomic Wallet.
- Authorities previously attributed major hacks on DeFi bridges Harmony and Ronin to Lazarus.
- The FBI warned that TraderTraitor-affiliated actors Lazarus and APT38 could liquidate their BTC for $40 million at current market prices.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned crypto companies about $41 million in stolen Bitcoin (BTC), controlled by North Korean “TraderTraitor affiliates” known as Lazarus and APT38.
According to the FBI rack on Tuesday, Lazarus could proceed to cash in 1,580 BTC that was raided in 2023 from various crypto service providers. The FBI attributed hacks on Alphapo, Atomic Wallet, and CoinsPaid to Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)-funded hacker organizations.
Thefts from Alphapo, Atomic Wallet and CoinsPaid resulted in losses totaling nearly $200 million, per on-chain analysts and the FBI.
FBI investigators warned crypto companies to steer clear of the stolen cryptocurrencies traced to six Bitcoin addresses –
- 3LU8wRu4ZnXP4UM8Yo6kkTiGHM9BubgyiG
- 39idqitN9tYNmq3wYanwg3MitFB5TZCjWu
- 3AAUBbKJorvNhEUFhKnep9YTwmZECxE4Nk
- 3PjNaSeP8GzLjGeu51JR19Q2Lu8W2Te9oc
- 3NbdrezMzAVVfXv5MTQJn4hWqKhYCTCJoB
- 34VXKa5upLWVYMXmgid6bFM4BaQXHxSUoL
Lazarus has raised $2 billion from crypto
DPRK-based Lazarus remains a staunch exploiter of the nascent crypto industry, with an estimated $2 billion stolen by the illicit organization, according to a report by Elliptic. Various attack vectors such as social engineering, DDos, and phishing have been deployed by the cybercriminal group against DeFi protocols and crypto entities.
DeFi analysts and the FBI agree that Lazarus was responsible for the $650 million hack on Sky Mavis’ Ronin Bridge. The incident remains one of the biggest hacks in crypto history.
Suspected North Korean hackers also stole $100 million from Harmony’s Horizon Bridge and another $100 million from Atomic Wallet, a crypto wallet provider.
“The FBI will continue to expose and combat the DPRK’s use of illegal activities — including cybercrime and virtual currency theft — to generate revenue for the regime.” FBI federal investigators said Tuesday.
