Lazarus Group Tied to $30M Hyperliquid Laundering Scheme Amid Regulatory Concerns
North Korea's Lazarus Group has been linked to a $30 million cryptocurrency laundering scheme using the platform Hyperliquid. According to blockchain researcher Emmett Gallic, wallets associated with the group have been moving funds through HyperUnit on the platform. The Lazarus Group was previously identified as being connected to seven Bitcoin addresses holding approximately 891 BTC ($61.8 million) in May 2024.
ZachXBT's investigation found that more than $200 million in stolen cryptocurrency from 25+ hacks were linked to the group, with recent activity showing four outflows of Bitcoin worth a total of $1.6 million. These Bitcoins were then moved into the Hyperliquid ecosystem and converted into Ethereum and Solana.
The assets were bridged across different networks before being sent to centralized exchanges such as KuCoin, LBank, and Kraken, as well as unidentified Tron-based services. This has raised regulatory concerns due to Lazarus's sanctions by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).