- Bybit recently saw $ 1.5 billion stolen during a routine transfer
- The FBI has now linked Lazare group to theft
- Funds are currently bleached to hinder tracing efforts
The flight of bybit cryptocurrency which experienced nearly $ 1.5 billion in stolen funds, was awarded to the famous North Korean group Lazare by the FBI.
The Lazare group is also followed as a traderrale and Apt38, and in a press release, the FBI said: “The actors of Traderraitor take place quickly and converted some of the stolen assets to Bitcoin and other virtual assets dispersed on thousands of addresses on several blocks of blocks. We expect these assets to be more bleached and ultimately converted into fiduciary currency. »»
The funds were part of a regular transfer of the Ethereum cryptocurrency between the cold and hot portfolio of Bybit, but were redirected in transit to a blockchain controlled by the Lazarus group, the largest flight of cryptocurrency in history.
The greatest flight of cryptography in history
The FBI has also listed several Ethereum addresses linked to the theft and asked for the platforms which manage the transfer of cryptocurrency to block the transactions of the accounts listed.
Bybit also invited anyone with an expertise in blockchain or cryptocurrency to help follow the stolen funds.
Zachxbt, an cryptocurrency and fraud flight investigator, observed thieves transferring part of the stolen crypto to an Ethereum address previously used in several Lazare group operations.
Many other blockchain industry organizations have observed numerous transfers between the North Korean controlled addresses in the attempts to laundering funds and slowing down tracing efforts.
The Lazare group has collected a whole name for its cryptographic flights which would be a revenue generation method for the North Korean government.
North Korea does not disclose its GDP, but estimates place the country’s nominal GDP in 2023 to 29.6 billion dollars, which means that the flight would represent around 5% of North Korea GDP in 2023.
