Share this article
Binance and Huobi Freeze $1.4M in Crypto Tied to Harmony Bridge Theft
Tracing firm Elliptic said it followed the money through Tornado Cash.
By Danny Nelson
Updated May 9, 2023, 4:08 a.m. Published Feb 15, 2023, 12:48 a.m.
Crypto exchanges Binance and Huobi on Tuesday froze $1.4 million in crypto tied to the Harmony Bridge heist and its alleged North Korean hackers, according to crypto tracing firm Elliptic.
In a blog post, Elliptic said it provided intelligence to the two exchanges that prompted them to freeze accounts. It said it traced the funds back to the $100 million hack of a “bridge” that allowed Harmony blockchain users to move crypto assets between different ecosystems.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Binance and Huobi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Federal investigators have credited North Korea’s infamous hacker wing the Lazarus Group with attacking the bridge as part of their multi-year campaign to steal hundreds of millions of crypto dollars from exchanges and infrastructure. That campaign funds North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, investigators have said.
Read more: North Korea Crypto Theft Hit Record High Last Year, UN Says: Reuters
Elliptic further claimed it followed the now-frozen Harmony funds through Tornado Cash, the privacy-focused mixing service that purports to hide one’s tracks on the public Ethereum ledger. The U.S. sanctioned Tornado Cash because of its alleged use by North Korean hackers.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Michael Saylor's Strategy Hangs on to Spot in Nasdaq 100 Index
The annual Nasdaq 100 rebalance saw six companies dropped and three new additions, with changes taking effect on December 22, but bitcoin treasury company Strategy hung onto its spot.
What to know:
- Strategy (MSTR) will remain in the Nasdaq 100 index despite a major reshuffle, which saw several household names dropped.
- The firm's business model, which involves stockpiling bitcoin, has drawn criticism from analysts and index providers, with MSCI considering excluding crypto treasury companies from its benchmarks.
- The Nasdaq 100 rebalance saw six companies dropped and three new additions, with changes taking effect on December 22, but Strategy's bitcoin-heavy strategy secured its spot.
Top Stories
