North Korean Hacker Group Lazarus Holds Substantial Bitcoin and Crypto Assets!

• According to data compiled by 21.co, the parent company of 21Shares, wallets associated with the Lazarus Group currently hold a total of $47 million in digital assets.
• As per Dune data, 295 wallets identified as belonging to the hacking group have been monitored by the FBI and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
• According to Chainalysis, cryptocurrency thefts conducted by hackers linked to North Korea have decreased by 80% compared to 2022.

The Lazarus Group, a hacker group associated with North Korea, reportedly holds millions of dollars in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, but these are just the known amounts!

Lazarus Group Holds Millions in Bitcoin

According to new data, the Lazarus Group, a hacker group associated with North Korea, possesses a substantial amount of cryptocurrency, with a significant portion being Bitcoin. According to data compiled by 21.co, the parent company of 21Shares, wallets associated with the Lazarus Group currently hold a total of $47 million in digital assets.

Of this amount, $42.5 million is in BTC, $1.9 million in Ethereum, $1.1 million in BNB, and an additional $640,000 primarily in Binance USD stablecoins. However, it appears that the amount of cryptocurrency owned has decreased from $86 million, which Lazarus had shortly after the Stake.com hack attack in which they were involved.

Dune data shows that 295 wallets identified as belonging to the hacking group have been monitored by the FBI and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Surprisingly, the group does not possess privacy coins like Monero, Dash, or Zcash, which are much more challenging to track.

Meanwhile, Lazarus’ cryptocurrency wallets are still quite active, with the most recent transaction recorded on September 20th. 21.co also noted that the amount held by the group is likely much higher than the reported amount:

“This is a lower-bound estimate of the Lazarus Group’s cryptocurrency holdings based on publicly available information.”

On September 13th, COINOTAG reported that the Lazarus Group carried out an attack on the CoinEx cryptocurrency exchange, resulting in a loss of at least $55 million. The FBI also accused Lazarus of being responsible for the Alphapo, CoinsPaid, and Atomic Wallet attacks, which collectively stole over $200 million in 2023.

Lazarus Attacks Declined in 2023

According to Chainalysis, cryptocurrency thefts carried out by hackers associated with North Korea have decreased by 80% compared to 2022. Until mid-2022, groups linked to North Korea had stolen a total of $340.4 million in cryptocurrencies, a significant drop from the record $1.65 billion in digital assets stolen in 2022.

At the end of last week, U.S. federal officials issued a warning that there was a “significant risk” of potential attacks by the Lazarus Group on U.S. healthcare and public health sector institutions.