• Crypto exchanges Binance and Huobi froze $1.4 million in crypto tied to the Harmony Bridge heist and its alleged North Korean hackers, according to crypto tracing firm Elliptic.
• Federal investigators have credited North Korea’s infamous hacker wing the Lazarus Group with attacking the bridge as part of their multi-year campaign to steal hundreds of millions of crypto dollars from exchanges and infrastructure.
• Elliptic further claimed it followed the now-frozen Harmony funds through Tornado Cash, the privacy-focused mixing service that purports to hide one’s tracks on the public Ethereum ledger.
Finance Exchanges Freeze Funds Tied To Harmony Bridge Theft
Binance and Huobi have frozen $1.4 million in crypto assets connected to a hack on Harmony Bridge, according to crypto tracing firm Elliptic. The funds are believed to be connected to North Korean hackers associated with the Lazarus Group who have been running a multi-year campaign stealing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency from exchanges and infrastructure. Furthermore, Elliptic followed these frozen funds through Tornado Cash which has been sanctioned by US authorities due its potential use by North Korean hackers.
Elliptic Traced The Funds
Elliptic provided intelligence which led Binance and Huobi to freeze accounts believed to be connected with this theft. Through their tracking capabilities, they were able trace these funds back to the $100 million hack of a ‘bridge’ allowing users on different blockchains move assets between ecosystems – Harmony Bridge.
North Korea’s Multi Year Campaign
The Lazarus Group is believed to be behind this heist as part of their long term campaign targeting cryptocurrency exchanges for financial gain which has funded North Korea’s nuclear weapons program according to US investigators.
Tornado Cash Involved
Tornado Cash was then used to mix up these stolen funds across multiple wallets making them much harder for anyone attempting to track them down – an action forbidden by US sanctions due its potential use by North Korean hackers for money laundering activities.
Exchanges Take Action
By providing intelligence regarding this attack, Elliptic enabled both Binance and Huobi take action against those involved freezing all relevant accounts preventing any access or movement of these stolen funds until further investigations can take place bringing an end at least temporarily -to this attack.