North Korea-linked hackers stole $3.8 billion in crypto in 2022, with $775.7 million stolen in October alone
Per Reuters
A new report highlights how much was stolen in crypto by hackers linked to North Korea in 2022. The highest number of incidents happened in $775.7 million stolen in October alone in 32 different attacks, but in total, $3.8 billion was stolen in 2022.
A US-based blockchain analytics firm, Chainalysis, reported that most crypto hacking activities happened in March and October. North Korean-related accounts reportedly stole billions in 2022 alone, with the firm releasing a statement regarding how crypto hacking was part of the country's economy.
Chainalysis: "It isn’t a stretch to say that cryptocurrency hacking is a sizable chunk of the nation’s economy... these hacks will get harder and less fruitful with each passing year,"
One popular group, the Lazarus Group cybercriminal syndicate, reportedly stole an estimated $1.7 billion in 2022 alone. This group was long known to be linked to North Korea.
Per CNBC, the FBI confirmed that the Lazarus Group hackers stole $100 million worth of crypto from Horizon bridge. It was noted that the Railgun system was used to launder $60 million worth of crypto while trying to escape the heist.
The report said that attacks on DeFi made up 82% of crypto stolen in 2022, with $20.1 billion in illicit activity happening that year. The report by Reuters said that most of the DeFi applications run on the Ethereum blockchain.
The news comes at a time when Sam Bankman-Fried is still facing charges against him of fraud. Lawyers at FTX were reportedly paid $20 million for working just 51 days, with some charging from $1,300 to $2,000 an hour.
Aside from SBF, Logan Paul is also facing a lawsuit for his NFT product 'CryptoZoo,' in which investors claim it was a "rug pull." The class action lawsuit comes despite the YouTuber announcing that he would spend 1,000 ether tokens worth about $1.7 million.
See flow at unusualwhales.com/flow.
Other News:
- Lawyers and advisors in FTX bankruptcy have billed nearly $20 million for 51 days of work
- Logan Paul is being sued in a class action lawsuit for asking people to buy NFTs but never launching the product, CryptoZoo, claiming it was a "rug pull"
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