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North Korean Hackers Used Tornado Cash to Launder $12M From Heco Bridge Hack: Elliptic

The hacking group sent more than 40 transactions to Tornado Cash over the past 24 hours.

By Oliver Knight|Edited by Nikhilesh De
Updated Mar 14, 2024, 4:00 p.m. Published Mar 14, 2024, 3:58 p.m.
Flags fly in Pyongyang, North Korea (Micha Brandli/Unsplash)
Flags fly in Pyongyang, North Korea (Micha Brandli/Unsplash)

North Korean hackers tied to its infamous Lazarus Group have used coin mixing service Tornado Cash to launder $12 million worth of ether ETH$3.077,08 over the past 24 hours.

Research from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic shows that more than 40 transactions have been sent by Lazarus Group to Tornado Cash on March 13 and March 14. Elliptic has also attributed a $100 million Heco Bridge and HTX hack last November to Lazarus Group.

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Lazarus is responsible for hacks worth more than $3 billion over the past six years, according to a report by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

Tornado Cash was hit by U.S. sanctions in August 2022. This spurred Lazarus Group to use another mixer, Sinbad, to obfuscate their ill-gotten gains. However, Sinbad itself was seized by U.S. authorities in November, prompting Lazarus to make the shift back to Tornado Cash, Elliptic said in its blog post. One of Tornado Cash's founders, Roman Storm, was arrested last year and is awaiting trial on money laundering charges. Another, Roman Semenov, has been charged but has yet to be arrested.

Despite being sanctioned twice, Tornado Cash still runs via decentralized smart contracts that cannot be seized or taken offline.

"The change in behavior and return to the use of Tornado Cash likely reflects the limited number of large-scale mixers now operating, thanks to law enforcement takedowns of services such as Sinbad.io and Blender.io," Elliptic said.

Lazarus groupHackEllipticSanctionsTornado Cash

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Pakistan, Binance Sign MOU to Explore Tokenization of $2B in State Assets: Reuters

Yazan Olivier Acuna|Editör Jamie Crawley
1 saat önce
Sindh Province Capital Karachi, Pakistan. (Muhammad Jawaid Shamshad/Unsplash)

The agreement comes as Pakistan accelerates the rollout of a formal crypto regulatory framework and explores blockchain-based distribution of government-owned assets.

Bilinmesi gerekenler:

  • Binance plans to tokenize up to $2 billion in bonds, treasury bills, and commodity reserves in Pakistan.
  • The initiative is part of Pakistan's effort to use blockchain technology to attract foreign investment and enhance liquidity.
  • Pakistan's regulatory actions align with global trends as countries like the UAE and Japan expand crypto exchange licensing rules.
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