Lazarus Moves $30M Through Hyperliquid Amid US Sanctions Talks
North Korea's Lazarus Group has moved over $30 million in Bitcoin through Hyperliquid over three weeks, according to blockchain data from Arkham. The group used the proceeds from these sales to buy Ethereum and Solana before transferring the assets to centralized exchanges such as Kraken, LBank, and KuCoin.
The activity raises questions about US sanctions, as the Treasury Department has sanctioned Lazarus Group for its role in various digital-asset thefts, including the $625 million Ronin Network attack in 2022. The presence of a sanctioned actor's assets on a decentralized platform like Hyperliquid can complicate enforcement efforts.
Payward, Kraken's parent company, is reportedly discussing a plan to offer selected perpetual contracts from Hyperliquid to American traders through its CFTC-regulated derivatives business, Bitnomial. This would require regulatory approval and address concerns about sanctions screening, customer identification, and account-level controls.