What if CoinEx was them again? The day after the hack of this crypto exchange platform, a very credible lead was reported by the crypto investigator ZachXBT. According to the latter, hackers from the Lazarus Group, suspected after getting confused with one of their crypto addresses, could be involved in this $54 million heist.
CoinEx reported this spectacular theft on September 12. The company had noticed a little too late abnormal withdrawals of crypto from its “hot wallets”, these addresses always connected to a server used to carry out transactions. After investigation, these included ethereum, bitcoin, sol or tron.
Without surprise
The exchange platform, which ensures that it will reimburse people injured by the heist, then announced that it would suspend deposits and withdrawals. The accusation of hackers from North Korea, the country of origin of the Lazarus Group, surprised no one. And for good reason: according to the American FBI, they would be responsible for the theft of the equivalent of more than 200 million dollars in 2023.
Thus, the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that these hackers are involved in the theft of $41 million in crypto-assets committed in early September against the online casino Stake.com. In July, they are suspected of stealing $60 million from Alphapo and CoinsPaid, two crypto payment platforms. And a month earlier, they reportedly swiped $100 million in crypto from Atomic Wallet, a crypto wallet provider.
Address reporting
But for hackers, stealing crypto is not enough. They must then successfully launder the cryptos in order to use them. At the end of August, the FBI slipped a banana skin to North Korean hackers, reporting the movement of around 1,580 bitcoins (around 39.5 million euros), resulting from various heists, on six addresses. It is therefore a way of blocking dirty money, which is clearly used to finance the dictatorship in North Korea.
A financial resource that is obviously very popular: according to Chainalysis, a company specializing in tracking transactions on blockchains, hackers affiliated with North Korea have been involved in recent years in thefts totaling $1.7 billion in loot. For TRM Labs, another crypto investigation company, the year 2022 would have been particularly auspicious for these thieves, with loot approaching $800 million.