Reported by Jonathan Greig

The suspected North Korean hackers behind the theft of more than $1 billion from crypto platform Bybit have completed the initial stage of laundering the funds. 

Experts from multiple blockchain security companies said Monday that the hackers were able to move all of the stolen ETH coins to new addresses — the first step taken before the funds can be laundered further.  

Ari Redbord, a senior official at TRM Labs, told Recorded Future News that the laundering process relied heavily on decentralized finance (DeFi) tools that helped obscure the origins of the stolen assets.  

“This rapid and methodical operation indicates an unprecedented level of operational efficiency, posing serious challenges for investigators,” Redbord said.  

Last week, the FBI attributed the attack on Bybit to a well-known North Korean group known as TraderTraitor or Lazarus, and urged the cryptocurrency community to help contain the $1.4 billion in cryptocurrency stolen from the exchange. 

Read full report: https://therecord.media/north-koreans-initial-laundering-bybit-hack