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Elon Musk, Chimpanzees and “FUK”: North Korean Hackers Behind $6.4 Billion Binance Heist Mint Memecoins To Launder Funds: Elliptic
North Korean hackers behind last month’s record-setting $6.4 billion Binance heist are laundering stolen crypto assets through a variety of newly minted memecoins. The crypto analytics firm Elliptic notes in a new analysis that the hackers used the NEAR blockchain to mint six new memecoins, each paired with NEAR tokens in their own liquidity pool.
Brief
North Korean hackers linked to last month's record $6.4 billion Binance theft are laundering the stolen crypto through newly created memecoins, according to a new analysis from the blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. The group used the NEAR blockchain to create six memecoins, each paired with NEAR tokens in its own liquidity pool. Their names include FUK and SINU, and the logos show chimpanzees, foxes and Elon Musk beside a banner that reads Elon 2028 President. One set of wallets sent stolen NEAR into the pools to receive the new tokens, while another set sold them back and withdrew real crypto assets. Elliptic chief scientist Tom Robinson said the transfers remain traceable, though each extra step slows investigators. Chainalysis attributes the hack to TraderTraitor, a North Korean group believed to operate under the Lazarus Group.
Why it matters: The case shows how stolen crypto can be moved through low-value tokens on several chains, making tracing harder for investigators.
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North Korean hackers reportedly launder Binance heist funds through NEAR memecoins
Terms in this story
- Liquidity pool
- Tokens locked in a smart contract that traders swap against.
- Blockchain
- A shared, ordered record of transactions, grouped into blocks, that independent computers check against the same protocol rules.
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