The FBI confirmed the North Korean connection and labeled the activity as TraderTraitor.
27 Feb 2025 9:30 UTC
What you need to know:
- The FBI has turned to the cryptocurrency sector for help in tracking and blocking transactions linked to the laundering of $1.5 billion stolen from Bybit by North Korean hackers.
- Law enforcement agencies have characterized this particular North Korean cyber activity as “TraderTraitor.”
- The FBI has released a list of Ethereum addresses that are storing or have stored assets obtained from the theft.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has asked the cryptocurrency industry to help track and block transactions related to the laundering of $1.5 billion stolen from Bybit by North Korean hackers.
On Wednesday, the FBI released a list of Ethereum addresses that are or have been storing assets from theft in a public statement. The statement again highlighted the country's involvement, and labeled it as TraderTraitor.
The hack has already been linked to the North Korean-linked Lazarus group, according to blockchain analytics firms. Ether and ETH staking tokens were stolen in the largest-ever hack of a cryptocurrency exchange last week.
The criminals are converting some of their stolen assets into bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies “across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains,” the PSA said. The FBI said it expects the assets to be further laundered and eventually converted to fiat currency.
Read More: Bybit Declares 'War on Lazarus', Launches Crowdsourced Effort to Freeze Stolen Funds
