North Korean Hacker Group Lazarus reportedly involved in $305 million DMM Bitcoin Heist
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT claims that over $35 million has been laundered by hackers involved in the $308 million theft from the cryptocurrency exchange DMM Bitcoin in May through an online marketplace in Cambodia this month.
1/4 So far in July 2024 more than $35M from the $305M DMM Bitcoin hack has been laundered to the online marketplace Huione Guarantee
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) July 14, 2024
It is suspected that Lazarus Group is behind the hack due to similarities in laundering techniques and off chain indicators. pic.twitter.com/g1ndlttBll
Blockchain forensics company Elliptic posted on July 10th, citing ZachXBT as the source of the information that the funds were transferred to Huione Guarantee, a Cambodian company purportedly associated with the ruling Hun family. Elliptic also reports that $11 billion in cryptocurrency has been handled by the marketplace as a result of hacks, pig butchering schemes, and other illicit activities.
ZachXBT makes the claim that the hack may have been carried out by the Lazarus Group based on "off-chain indicators" and "similarities in laundering techniques."
The stolen Bitcoin, according to on-chain sleuth, was sent to privacy mixers before being withdrawn and transferred via the cross-chain liquidity protocol THORChain to Ethereum or Avalanche. The money, he clarified, is subsequently transferred to Tron and converted to USDT before being sent to Huione. But, on July 12, Tether blocked the Tron wallet address in order to stop $28.2 million from going to Huione. Previously, over the course of three days, this address moved roughly $14 million from the DMM Bitcoin hack, according to ZachXBT.
Additionally, ZachXBT has made public 538 wallet addresses connected to Huione, the Lazarus Group, and other participants in the DMM Bitcoin hack.
Due to a critical security flaw that was exploited, allowing unauthorized access to DMM Bitcoin's servers and leading to a significant Bitcoin leak on May 30, the Japan-based company DMM Bitcoin was robbed of $305 million in Bitcoin.
The Lazarus Group has been connected to significant cryptocurrency theft on previous occasions. A report claims that in 2023, the group targeted a record 20 platforms and stole over $1 billion in cryptocurrency assets. Earlier in March, despite US sanctions, the group—which is allegedly controlled by the North Korean government—laundered $13 million worth of Ethereum using Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer.
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