North Korean Hackers Cash Out $300 Million from ByBit Heist

North Korean hackers have laundered 300 million from the record−breaking 1.5 billion crypto heist of ByBit Exchange. The infamous Lazarus Group is reportedly working around the clock to launder the stolen funds, which were initially split across 50 wallets holding approximately 10,000 ETH each.

Elliptic, a blockchain analytics firm, notes that North Korea is the most sophisticated crypto launderer, continually adapting its methods to evade detection. Since 2017, North Korean-linked actors have stolen over $6 billion in cryptoassets, with proceeds allegedly funding the country’s ballistic missile program.

The ByBit hack is the largest crypto heist in history, surpassing the 611 million stolen from PolyNetwork in 2021. It also marks the largest known theft of any kind, eclipsing Saddam Hussein’s 1 billion theft from the Iraqi Central Bank in 2003.