The U.S. Department of Treasury along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has accused the infamous North Korean hacker group, Lazarus, of the $625 million <a href="https://www.cryptoknowmics.com/news/hackers-steals-over-650m-from-axie-infinitys-ronin-network/">hack</a> at Axie Infinity last month, the biggest hack in crypto’s 13 years of history. Before the Axie Infinity hack, the $450 million Mt Gox hack was the biggest crypto hack.
<h2><strong>18% of the Stolen Funds Already Laundered</strong></h2>
In an updated list of sanctions by the Treasury Department, an Ethereum wallet address tied to the Ronin exploit. The Ronin network powers the play-to-earn game Axie Infinity. The developer behind the Axie Infinity game, Sky Mavis created the network to get around Ethereum network congestion.
<blockquote><em>"Through our investigations we were able to confirm Lazarus Group and APT38, cyber actors associated with [North Korea], are responsible for the theft,"</em> the FBI said in a statement on Thursday.</blockquote>
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis later tweeted that the sanctioned address was indeed linked to the involved group in the Ronin hack. The Ronin Network also <a href="https://roninblockchain.substack.com/p/community-alert-ronin-validators?s=w" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">confirmed</a> that the FBI had attributed the Ronin validator security breach to the Lazarus Group.

https://twitter.com/chainalysis/status/1514645221027594245

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Altogether, the attacker stole about 173,600 WETH and 25.5 million USDC stablecoin, which were collectively worth above $625 million when the hack was discovered <a href="https://www.cryptoknowmics.com/news/hackers-steals-over-650m-from-axie-infinitys-ronin-network" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last month</a>.

Elliptic <a href="https://www.elliptic.co/blog/540-million-stolen-from-the-ronin-defi-bridge?utm_campaign=Ronin%20hack&amp;utm_content=204725261&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;hss_channel=tw-1344645140" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">reports</a> that 18% of the stolen funds have already been laundered by sending them to various crypto exchanges, as well as through Tornado Cash. At the time of writing, the wallet still holds about 147,753 ETH, worth $444 million.

FBI Says North Korean Hacker Group Lazarus Behind Crypto Theft at Axie Infinity

The FBI has accused the infamous North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group of the $625 million hack at Axie Infinity last month.

Jafrin is a cryptocurrency journalist/researcher fascinated by the world of decentralization. She is hopeful towards blockchain’s innovation and its potential to reshape the world for good. Currently, she is bringing out the best of cryptosphere via covering the latest ins and outs of the blockchain space.

FBI Says North Korean Hacker Group Lazarus Behind Crypto Theft at Axie Infinity

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