North Korea’s Lazarus Group Moves $1.2M Bitcoin From Coin Mixer to Holding Wallet
North Korea-sponsored hacking syndicate Lazarus Group has transferred $1.2 million worth of cryptocurrency from a mixer, marking their largest transaction in over a month.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on January 8, blockchain analysis firm Arkham reported that the Lazarus Group processed the transaction by moving the assets from a coin mixer to a holding wallet.
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The Lazarus Group just made its biggest transactions in over a month, withdrawing $1M in BTC from what appears to be a mixing service this morning, then sending $150K of that to an inactive address they’ve sent to before.
Track Lazarus on Arkham:https://t.co/C4FFFLUkL5 pic.twitter.com/quYYF3h7Dj
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) January 8, 2024
Additional data revealed that the wallet received 27.371 BTC in two transactions before sending out 3.34 BTC to a previously used wallet. However, the specific coin mixer used in this transaction was not identified.
According to Arkham, the Lazarus Group maintains $79.6 million across various crypto portfolios, including BTC and ETH, worth $45K and $2K, respectively.
A mixing service, also known as a coin mixer or tumbler, is a blockchain-based protocol designed to obscure the ownership of cryptocurrencies. It achieves this by combining the coins with those from other users before redistributing them, making it challenging to trace the origin and recipients of the funds.
In a November 2023 data report, Recorded Future’s Insikt Group highlighted a substantial increase in North Korea’s focus on the cryptocurrency industry, estimating a staggering $3 billion in digital assets theft.
The 15-page report revealed that the hacker group’s illicit activities originated in 2017 within the South Korean market and subsequently expanded globally.
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