Report: North Korea Laundered $147.5M in Stolen Crypto

Facts

• North Korea reportedly laundered $147.5M using the virtual currency exchange service Tornado Cash in March, according to a confidential report by UN sanctions monitors that was reviewed by Reuters on Tuesday.¹
• The monitors told the UN Security Council's Sanctions Committee on Friday that the digital assets were previously stolen in a large-scale heist from the cryptocurrency platform HTX in late 2023.²
• They reportedly investigated 97 alleged North Korean cyberattacks on crypto firms worth about $3.6B since 2017. So far this year, North Korea is suspected to be behind 11 crypto thefts worth $54.7M.³
• It adds that many of the alleged illicit transactions were conducted by North Korean IT staff, whom the companies unwittingly hired. These workers are believed to generate 'substantial income for the country' that has been under UN sanctions since 2006.¹
• North Korean hacking group Lazarus allegedly uses crypto transaction facilitator Tornado Cash, which enables anonymous transactions to convert virtual funds into hard currency by obscuring the source and owners of the deposits.⁴
• Two of Tornado Cash's co-founders were charged by the US in 2023 with allegedly facilitating illegal transactions worth over $1B, including for a North Korean cybercrime ring. In September, the company's co-founder, Roman Storm, pleaded not guilty.⁵

Sources: ¹reuters.com, ²AsiaOne, ³The Japan Times, ⁴cryptonews.com and ⁵WION.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Chainalysis. North Korea's regime discovered illicit crypto activities as a means to finance its nuclear ambitions and circumvent UN sanctions. The money laundering techniques and sophistication with which Pyongyang seeks to evade detection have increased. However, the US is hitting back by sanctioning crypto-mixers used for their clandestine operations. If crypto companies are now also taking cybersecurity and risk management more seriously, Pyongyang will have a serious problem.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Unlimited Hangout. The US government and its oligarchs have been warning about state-sponsored financial cyberattacks for years, but their goal isn't to protect our wallets. With countries like North Korea as the scapegoat, Western banks, corporations, and think tanks will work to convince the public that they need a centralized digital currency system to 'protect' them. In reality, the ruling class simply wants more control over our money to enrich themselves.

Predictions