South Korean authorities have recovered 4.8 Bitcoin (BTC) stolen during the 2019 hack of the Upbit exchange, which was carried out by North Korean hackers. The stolen Ethereum (ETH), worth $41.4 million in 2019, is now valued at over $1 billion. The National Police Agency investigation found that North Korean hacker groups Lazarus and Andariel were involved in the hack.
These groups have stolen over $3 billion in cryptocurrency from 2017 to 2023. This is the first time South Korean police have officially linked a significant hack to North Korean operatives. The hackers laundered 57% of the stolen ETH by converting it into Bitcoin, which flowed through North Korea-linked exchanges and global platforms.
After years of tracing blockchain activity and analyzing North Korean IP addresses, investigators identified unique North Korean language usage. The recovered Bitcoin has been returned to Upbit. This development comes as Upbit faces scrutiny from South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) over KYC-related violations and concerns over market dominance from the Financial Services Commission (FSC).
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<p>The post South Korea Recovers Stolen Crypto After North Korean Hack first appeared on CoinBuzzFeed.</p>
