Lazarus-Linked Wallets Flood Hyperliquid with $30M Amid U.S. Expansion Plans
Crypto wallets linked to North Korea's state-backed Lazarus Group have moved more than $30 million through Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives platform. According to blockchain data analyzed by Emmett Gallic of Arkham, the funds were sent from Bitcoin to Hyperliquid and HyperUnit before being converted into Ether or Solana. The assets were then bridged to various networks, including Tron, Solana, and Ethereum, and ultimately sent towards centralized exchanges such as Kraken, KuCoin, and LBank.
Hyperliquid has been seeking a route into the U.S. market, with President Donald Trump's administration working on a pathway for the platform to operate in the country 'in a fully compliant and legal fashion.' However, the Lazarus transactions have raised concerns about how Hyperliquid will satisfy sanctions, anti-money-laundering, and market-surveillance requirements expected of regulated exchanges.
The $30 million transaction trail does not show that Hyperliquid was hacked or knowingly handled sanctioned funds. Instead, it highlights the compliance challenges faced by decentralized platforms in preventing activity connected to sanctioned actors from reaching regulated markets.