Lazarus Group Sells Over $30 Million in Bitcoin on Decentralized Derivatives Platform

North Korea's Lazarus Group has sold over $30 million in Bitcoin on Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives platform, according to blockchain data reviewed by Arkham. The group's wallets moved tens of millions on Hyperliquid and converted proceeds into ether and Solana before routing them to centralized exchanges, including Kraken, LBank, and KuCoin.

The activity has raised concerns about crypto and DeFi compliance and security risks as the White House explores bringing Hyperliquid into the United States under regulatory oversight. The platform has processed over $5 trillion in perpetual futures volume and holds roughly $13.3 billion in open interest, according to DefiLlama.

This is not the first time North Korea-linked wallets have appeared on Hyperliquid, with previous incidents flagging sanctions exposure as a risk. Chainalysis reported a 694% jump in value received by sanctioned entities in 2025, underscoring how quickly state-backed activity has grown even as North Korean hackers have been tied to breaches at thousands of companies.