Bybit Hack Linked to North Korea: FBI Demands Exchanges Block North Korean Hackers!
In light of the $1.4 billion Bybit attack, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation has called on exchanges, private companies, and crypto node owners to prevent transactions from addresses used to launder money. In a public service announcement on February 26, the FBI affirmed a previous industry probe that North Korea carried out the attack, which the US law enforcement agency called TraderTraitor.
TraderTraitor actors are proceeding rapidly and have converted some of the stolen assets to Bitcoin and other virtual assets dispersed across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains. It is expected these assets will be further laundered and eventually converted to fiat currency.
FBI
In an April 2022 statement, the FBI stated that TraderTraitor is frequently referred to in the business as BlueNoroff, Stardust Chollima, APT38, and the Lazarus Group. To stop transactions connected to TraderTraitor, the FBI has urged operators of Remote Procedure Call nodes, exchanges, bridges, blockchain analytics companies, decentralized finance service providers, and others.
Over 135,000 ETH Laundered After Bybit Hack: How Much More Is at Risk?
According to a Feb. 26 X post by pseudonymous crypto analyst EmberCN, the Bybit hackers have already laundered over 135,000 Ether since the Feb. 21 event, which primarily consisted of liquid-staked Ether tokens. Since the breach, an additional 363,900 Ether—worth about $825 million at today’s prices—has not been affected.
The hackers turned some of the stolen Ether into Bitcoin, the Dai stablecoin, and other assets, according to a report by the crypto forensics company Chainalysis. They employed cross-chain bridges, decentralized exchanges, and a quick swap service that doesn’t need Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures.
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