The UN accused North Korea of laundering $147.5 million worth of cryptocurrency through the Tornado Cash platform in March, after stealing the money from cryptocurrency exchange HTX last year.
According to a confidential report from the United Nations revealed by Reuters on Tuesday, North Korea carried out 97 suspected cyberattacks targeting cryptocurrency companies between 2017 and 2024, with a total value of about 3.6 million. billion USD.
In particular, an attack late last year stole $147.5 million from the Cooperative exchange, before this amount was laundered through Tornado Cash in March this year. This information was provided by blockchain analytics companies PeckShield and Elliptic.
Exclusive: North Korea laundered $147.5 million through virtual currency platform Tornado Cash in March after stealing it last year from a cryptocurrency exchange, according to confidential work by United Nations sanctions monitors seen by @Reuters https://t.co/C2nAybV6eD
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 14, 2024
In 2024 alone, experts from the United Nations are investigating 11 cases of cryptocurrency theft worth about 54.7 million USD, and believe that many of these cases may be the work of some North Korean IT employees. unwittingly recruited by small cryptocurrency-related companies.
According to the report, many United Nations member states and private businesses believe that North Korea's IT employees operating abroad have generated significant income for the country.
The report also points out that North Korea is becoming increasingly sophisticated in using technology to carry out illegal activities, while the international community's efforts to curb these activities are still lacking. limit.
Although North Korea has been under United Nations sanctions since 2006 aimed at cutting funding for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, the organization has yet to impose any new sanctions. since 2017.
North Korea's use of Tornado Cash for money laundering has once again raised concerns about the ability of cryptocurrency mixers to support illegal activities.
The US previously imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash in 2022 for allegedly supporting North Korea. The platform's two co-founders were also charged in 2023 with facilitating money laundering of more than $1 billion, including by cybercriminal groups linked to North Korea.
Also this week, Alexey Pertsev, co-founder of Tornado Cash, was convicted of money laundering and received a 64-month prison sentence in the Netherlands.
Tornado Cash is a mixer that works on ZK-SNARKS technology to hide the origin of cryptocurrency transactions. Therefore, criminals often use this tool to hide illegal transactions, to distract law enforcement agencies and to evade international sanctions.