According to BlockBeats, on August 16, according to Cointelegraph, ZachXBT, a well-known on-chain detective, said that he had discovered a large network of North Korean developers who worked for multiple well-known encryption projects and earned a total of $500,000 per month. This single entity in Asia (most likely North Korea) employed at least 21 employees, participated in more than 25 encryption projects, and received $300,000 to $500,000 per month.

Recently, a victim team discovered after being hacked that many of the developers they hired were using fake identities and were actually IT employees from North Korea. The team suffered a loss of $1.3 million, and the funds were eventually laundered through multiple transactions. Further investigation by ZachXBT found that this large network of North Korean developers received $375,000 in rewards in the past month, and the previous transaction volume was as high as $5.5 million. Among them, some developers were found to be associated with North Koreans who have been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department. ZachXBT said that some well-known crypto projects may also have unknowingly hired these North Korean IT personnel.