Reporting · markets
North Korean launderers minted six NEAR meme coins to move stolen funds
Elliptic traced North Korean-linked laundering through six NEAR-based memecoins created after the October Binance theft, with millions still unmoved.
Quick take
- Elliptic says North Korean launderers used six NEAR meme tokens to move money tied to the Binance theft.
- About 117,000 NEAR, roughly $430,000, passed through the tokens, while the FBI ties the theft to North Korea's TraderTraitor group.
- The same four-step method was seen in the February 2025 Bybit laundering.
Bitcoin Magazine reported that Elliptic found North Korean launderers minted six meme tokens on the NEAR blockchain between November 5 and 7. According to Elliptic, about 117,000 NEAR, roughly $430,000, passed through the tokens. The activity is tied to the October 29 theft from Binance, which the exchange puts at $6.34 billion.
The FBI has attributed the theft to North Korea's TraderTraitor group. Elliptic put the amount converted at roughly 3,000 BTC, about $225 million, while about 11.8 million NEAR, worth $43.7 million, has not moved. According to the same analysis, creating each token cost about 25 NEAR, or around $90, and four creators withdrew liquidity on November 8.
The technique moves funds through liquidity pools in four steps. The same method has been seen before, in the February 2025 laundering tied to Bybit. The tokens were minted on November 5 to 7, and the liquidity withdrawals followed on November 8. Taken together, the figures show both converted bitcoin and NEAR that has not yet been moved.
Sources
Machine-written from the publishers’ reports and checked against them · How Dextape writes
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