Recent data reveals that the notorious North Korean hacking collective, Lazarus Group, possesses a staggering $47 million in various cryptocurrencies, primarily dominated by Bitcoin.
This information, compiled from Dune Analytics through 21.co, the parent company of 21Shares, exposes the group’s holdings.
As of now, Lazarus Group’s wallets comprise $42.5 million in Bitcoin (BTC), $1.9 million in Ether (ETH), $1.1 million in Binance Coin (BNB), and an additional $640,000 in stablecoins, primarily Binance USD.
It is notable that the group’s crypto assets have decreased considerably since September 6, when they held $86 million, just days after their alleged involvement in the Stake.com hack.
The Dune dashboard meticulously monitors 295 wallets linked to the Lazarus Group, as identified by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
What stands out is the absence of privacy coins, such as Monero (XMR), DASH, or Zcash (ZEC), within Lazarus’ portfolio.
These cryptocurrencies are renowned for their enhanced anonymity features, making tracking transactions notably challenging.
In contrast, Lazarus Group’s crypto wallets continue to exhibit high activity, with the most recent transaction recorded on September 20.
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Additionally, 21.co suggests that the actual holdings of the group might exceed the reported figures, cautioning, “We should note that this is a lower-bound estimation of Lazarus Group’s crypto holdings based on publicly available information.”
Notably, on September 13, Cointelegraph reported that Lazarus Group orchestrated an attack on the crypto exchange CoinEx, resulting in a loss of at least $55 million.
The FBI has also linked Lazarus to hacks on Alphapo, CoinsPaid, and Atomic Wallet, collectively amounting to over $200 million stolen in 2023.
However, a report by Chainalysis indicates an 80% decline in crypto thefts by North Korea-linked hackers from 2022.
As of mid-September, these groups had pilfered $340.4 million in crypto, a significant drop from the record $1.65 billion stolen digital assets in 2022.
In a recent development, U.S. federal authorities issued a warning of a “significant risk” of potential attacks on U.S. healthcare and public health sector entities by the Lazarus Group, emphasizing the group’s persistent threat to various sectors.
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