ZachXBT links $305M DMM Bitcoin hack to Lazarus Group.
Over $35M funneled through Huione Guarantee.
Tether blacklists wallet with $29.6M USDT.
Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT has uncovered new evidence linking North Korea’s Lazarus Group to the $305 million DMM Bitcoin hack, revealing how the hackers laundered over $35 million of the stolen funds through the online marketplace Huione Guarantee.
1/4 So far in July 2024 more than $35M from the $305M DMM Bitcoin hack has been laundered to the online marketplace Huione Guarantee It is suspected that Lazarus Group is behind the hack due to similarities in laundering techniques and off chain indicators. pic.twitter.com/g1ndlttBll
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) July 14, 2024
ZachXBT’s findings suggest the Lazarus Group employed similar laundering methods using off-chain indicators.
Last week, Tether blacklisted a Huione-linked wallet containing 29.6 million USDT on the Tron network. Approximately $14 million from the DMM Bitcoin hack flowed into this wallet within three days.
ZachXBT explained that the laundering process typically follows a pattern where the hacker channels the stolen BTC through a transaction mixer. Afterward, the funds are bridged from Bitcoin to Ethereum or Avalanche using THORChain, Threshold, or Avalanche Bridge, and then swapped.
Last year, ZachXBT reported on the $31 million Fintoch investment fraud scheme linked to Huione, further highlighting the platform’s role in laundering activities.
Huione Guarantee has become a scam hub in Southeast Asia, often used by criminal organizations, including pig butchering gangs. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic recently reported that merchants on Huione have conducted over $11 billion in transactions. The report also alleged connections between the Huione Group and the Cambodian government.
Over the years, online scams have continued to grow, with a yearly global estimate of $64 billion lost to scamming syndicates, according to the Financial Scams report.
Per the United States Institute of Peace report, the Southeast Asian countries of Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar lose about $43.8 billion (40% of their combined formal GDP) to scam groups each year.
Myanmar’s director at USIP, Jason Tower, commented on the findings, stating, “this has gone from being very much a regional issue that was focused on criminal markets within the region to a global issue in a very short period of time, and it’s spreading into other countries… There’s new linkages into the Middle East, into Africa, that the same criminal actors are beginning to exploit.”
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