$27M Stolen Ethereum Funds Transferred to 6 Crypto Exchanges

The North Korean hackers behind the attack on Harmony Bridge are not relenting as it has transferred another $27 million stolen Ethereum (ETH) to six different cryptocurrency exchanges according to on-chain data disclosed by blockchain sleuth ZachXBT.

Who’s active rn?

DPRK just finished laundering another $17.7m+ (11304 ETH) from the Harmony Bridge hack.

S/o to the exchanges who responded quickly on a weekend so funds could be frozen. pic.twitter.com/sUyUScHR4N

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) January 29, 2023

While ZachXBT did not disclose the six exchanges where funds were transferred, he urged active exchanges during the weekend to freeze funds before being withdrawn. It was gathered that two main addresses orchestrated the act.

However, the latest transaction of funds was not unsimilar to Jan. 13, when over $60 million was laundered by the North Korean Lazarus group to different exchanges in which parts of the funds were frozen.

It is noteworthy that the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently established the claim that the Lazarus Group and APT38 were both behind the $100 million Lazarus group hack. 

The FBI statement partly reads:

“Through our investigation, we were able to confirm that the Lazarus Group and APT38, cyber actors associated with the DPRK [North Korea], are responsible for the theft of $100 million of virtual currency from Harmony’s Horizon bridge.” 

Meanwhile, the two anonymous hackers are still on the run and persistently exploring means of carting away the stolen $100 million. It should be noted that 350 addresses have been associated with the attack to conceal their identities.

Reactions and Development on Harmony Bridge Hack

There is no mincing word that the mastermind of the Harmony bridge attack, Lazarus, is a renowned hacking syndicate having been indicted in several crypto attacks including the Ronin Bridge hack.

The FBI and other regulatory agencies should work relentlessly in a bid to clamp down on Lazarus and its accomplice that orchestrated the attack just as they did in arresting Mango Markets’ hacker Avraham Eisenberg.

Unfortunately, no fewer than 895 Bitcoin (BTC) have been successfully withdrawn by the Lazarus group to 14 addresses from the exchanges. 

Update: So far I’ve been able to map out 895 BTC in withdrawals to 14 addresses from the exchanges.

List of BTC addresses here:https://t.co/2PnPyA4hCc pic.twitter.com/dMOz1XKYqf

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) January 29, 2023

Little wonder that a user, sugar spicy, corroborated the incident that scammers are the only ones that operate during weekends and bank holidays without resentment. This is uncalled for and should be tamed outright.