"More Than $30 Million Seized From North Korean Hackers Involved in Axie Crypto-Theft"
According to a report from the blockchain research firm Chainalysis, law enforcement agencies seized over $30 million in cryptocurrency allegedly stolen by hackers linked to the North Korean government. The funds were originally part of the more than $600 million stolen from Ronin Network, a popular decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, in March. The Ronin Network is the foundation of Axie Infinity, a popular blockchain game in the Philippines, Vietnam, and other Asian countries. In April, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) linked the massive DeFi theft to the notorious North Korean hacking group known as Lazarus. According to blockchain researchers at PeckShield, the group has slowly siphoned off about 3,000 ETH (more than $9 million) every two to three days from the initial amount stolen. The funds were repeatedly transferred to Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer that allows people to conceal the source of their funds. The hackers used Tornado Cash to mix stolen ether with other cryptocurrency before converting it to Bitcoin, which was then laundered a second time. In addition to the more traditional Tornado Cash-based laundering, the hackers allegedly carried out hundreds of similar transactions across multiple blockchains to launder the funds they stole from Axie Infinity. The US government and several research organizations have repeatedly pointed out Lazarus Group as the primary perpetrator of a wave of DeFi protocol attacks over the last two years. Chainalysis estimates that North Korean-linked groups stole approximately $1 billion in cryptocurrency from DeFi protocols in 2022. This article continues to discuss law enforcement agencies seizing more than $30 million allegedly stolen by North Korean government-backed hackers.