A suit filed in the federal court in Washington seeks the forfeiture of 113 crypto accounts that were used to steal more than $250 million from crypto exchanges in bitcoins and ether. Hackers from North Korea allegedly used phishing emails containing malware to target the crypto exchanges located in South Korea and other places in the world, as per the Bloomberg report.
North Korea pushing hard on cryptocurrencies to avoid sanctions
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has been under sanctions from the USA and the UN for a long time and for genuine reasons. According to the UN reports, the Kim Jong-un regime has been using cryptocurrency to bypass the sanctions and conduct international trades in secret.
Two Chinese nationals indicted for laundering over $100 million in crypto
Earlier, the US officials had indicted two Chinese nationals for laundering over $100 million in cryptocurrency. Theses funds were proceeds from the hack executed by North Korea. The Chinese citizens helped North Korean hackers launder funds that they stole from crypto exchanges. According to UN sanction reports, North Korea has used cryptocurrency to fund its weapons of mass destruction.
Earlier, the US law enforcement indicted the former Ethereum researcher for allegedly helping North Korea evade sanctions using blockchain and cryptocurrency.
