US Court Seizes Crypto Tied to North Korean IT Worker Wages

A US court has ordered the forfeiture of approximately $212,700 in virtual assets tied to North Korean IT workers' wages. The ruling, made by Judge Rudolph Contreras of the US District Court for the District of Columbia, pertains to a wallet containing stablecoins pegged to the US dollar.

The wallet's address begins with '0x81c4,' and it contains 158,123 USDC and 54,574 USDT. The total value is around $212,700. This decision is part of an ongoing lawsuit by the US Ministry of Justice to forfeit over $7.74 million in virtual assets linked to North Korean overseas workers.

The court's ruling only allows for the forfeiture of funds from this specific wallet, as ownership and other factors have not been reasonably verified for the remaining virtual-asset wallets.