Tether Blacklists $29.6M Linked to DMM Exchange Hack on Tron Network

Tether Blacklists- Crypto Laundering Link: Lazarus Group Tied to DMM Exchange’s $305M Bitcoin Theft

Tether Blacklists– Blockchain analyst ZachXBT suggested that the North Korea-backed Lazarus Group orchestrated the $305 million hack of Japan’s DMM Bitcoin exchange. In a social media post on July 14, ZachXBT highlighted similarities in the laundering techniques and off-chain indicators used by the Lazarus Group and those observed in the movement of funds by the DMM Bitcoin hackers. DMM confirmed in May that it suffered a hack resulting in the theft of 4,502.9 BTC, valued at approximately 48 billion yen ($305 million). Following the breach, the company raised around $320 million to compensate affected users.

ZachXBT Links Lazarus Group to $305 Million DMM Bitcoin Hack

Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT has implicated the North Korea-backed Lazarus Group in orchestrating the $305 million hack of Japan’s DMM Bitcoin exchange. According to ZachXBT’s findings shared on July 14, the DMM Bitcoin hackers transferred approximately $35 million of the stolen funds to the online marketplace Huione Guarantee in July.

The investigation revealed that the hackers typically launder stolen BTC by using crypto mixers and then transferring it to smart contract blockchains like Avalanche or Ethereum using THORChain, Avalanche Bridge, and Threshold. They then convert the funds into USDT and move them to the Tron network, eventually transferring them to Huione. This sophisticated laundering method mirrors the tactics commonly employed by the Lazarus Group.

The USDT transfers caught the attention of stablecoin issuer Tether, which subsequently blacklisted $29.6 million of its USDT tokens held in a Tron-based wallet linked to the Huione marketplace. ZachXBT noted that this wallet received about $14 million from the DMM Bitcoin hack within three days.

Further validating these claims, Web3 investigative tool provider Bitrace confirmed that the Tron address involved was frozen due to its role in laundering funds for criminal activities such as fraud and crypto theft.

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