A trace of the Lazarus Group reported after the theft of CoinEx

And if CoinEx, it was them again? The day after the hacking 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 tangling brushes with one of their crypto addresses, could be involved in this $ 54 million heist.

CoinEx had reported this spectacular theft on September 12th. The company had noticed a little too late abnormal withdrawals of crypto from its “hot wallet”, these addresses always connected to a server used to carry out transactions. After investigation, these included ethereum, bitcoin, sol or tron.

No surprise

The exchange platform, which assures that it will reimburse those harmed by the breakage, had then announced suspending deposits and withdrawals. The implication of the hackers from North Korea, the country of origin of the Lazarus Group, did not surprise anyone. 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 allegedly snatched up $100 million in crypto from Atomic Wallet, a crypto wallet provider.

Reporting of addresses

But for hackers, stealing cryptos is not enough. They must then succeed in laundering the cryptos in order to be able to use them. At the end of August, the FBI thus slipped a banana peel to North Korean hackers, by reporting the movement of about 1580 bitcoins (about 39.5 million euros), from various heists, on six addresses. So this is a way of blocking dirty money, which is obviously used to finance the dictatorship in North Korea.

A financial resource that is obviously very appreciated: according to Chainalysis, a company specialized in tracking transactions on the blockchain, hackers affiliated with North Korea have been involved in recent years in robberies totaling $ 1.7 billion in loot. For TRM Labs, another crypto investigation company, the year 2022 would also have been particularly prosperous for these thieves, with a loot totaling $ 800 million.