In a surprising turn of events, North Korea’s stolen crypto has landed in the wallet of an Asian payment firm. According to Reuters, blockchain data reveals that a large payments company in Cambodia received cryptocurrency valued at more than $150,000 from a digital wallet used by the North Korean hacker group Lazarus, providing an insight into how the criminal organization has financed operations throughout Southeast Asia.
Based in Phnom Penh and providing remittance, payments, and currency exchange services, Huione Pay received the cryptocurrency between June 2023 and February of this year, according to previously undisclosed blockchain data that Reuters examined.
North Korea’s link to crypto thefts
According to United Nations (UN) Security Council research, there have been $3 billion in cryptocurrency thefts connected to North Korea between 2017 and 2023. The report also stated that a UN Security Council panel is looking into 17 cryptocurrency heists that occurred in 2023 and were valued at over $750 million.
These heists may have been carried out by North Korea. The report states that between 2017 and 2023, there were 58 suspected cyberattacks on companies involved in the cryptocurrency space. According to the report, cyberattacks provide North Korea with about half of its foreign exchange earnings, which it uses to finance its nuclear development.
Additionally, the FBI announced in September last year that North Korea’s Lazarus Group stole around $41 million in cryptocurrency assets from Stake.com, an online casino and betting site. On November 29, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned Sinbad.io.
Sinbad.io is a virtual currency mixer and a crucial instrument for money laundering used by the Lazarus Group. Services known as “crypto mixers” combine cryptocurrency from several sources to obfuscate transaction records.
Why does North Korea steal crypto?
North Korea has been compelled by years of oppressive economic sanctions and pressure from neighboring nations to devise innovative ways to get around financial constraints to continue acquiring military hardware and other resources for power plays.
The East Asian country has found a very simple way to get around these burdensome constraints as part of its efforts to create an effective deterrent against what it views as external threats to its existence: Bitcoin.
When federal authorities announced in February 2021 that three North Korean computer programmers had been charged with a string of cyberattacks aimed at stealing and extorting more than $1.3 billion in cash and cryptocurrency from financial institutions and businesses, the innovative methods North Korea was using to take advantage of cryptocurrency came to light.
