Lazarus Group Execute Largest BTC Transaction in Over a Month

North Korean Hackers Execute Largest BTC Transaction in Over a Month: Arkham

09 January 2024 05:42 UTC

Lazarus Group withdraws over $1 million in Bitcoin through a crypto mixer, reported by Arkham Intelligence.
The North Korean hacking groups activity sparks rumors the transaction could be in preparation for the spot Bitcoin ETF decision.
Lazarus was recently linked to the major attacks on cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx and Poloniex.

The North Korean hacker collective known as Lazarus Group has reportedly made its most significant transactions in over a month, pulling out more than $1 million in Bitcoin via a crypto mixer.

Arkham Intelligence reported the movement this morning, with one X user suggesting that the group could be preparing for potential approval of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Lazarus Group’s Six Transactions Surpass $1 Million

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Arkham Intelligence displayed a screenshot of six transactions totaling around $1.38 million at the time of publication.

However, the majority of that amount, approximately 37 BTC, was executed this morning through three transactions.

“The Lazarus Group just made its biggest transactions in over a month, withdrawing $1M in BTC from what appears to be a mixing service this morning, then sending $150K of that to an inactive address they’ve sent to before.”

Lazarus Group BTC Transactions Over a Week Period. Source: Arkham

Arkham’s observation of $150,000 being sent to one of their inactive addresses triggered speculation among X users.

They speculated a potential connection to the impending decision by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Lazarus Group Suspected in String of Recent Attacks

Meanwhile, this comes after BeInCrypto reported that Lazarus Group was allegedly responsible for the attack on the CoinEx exchange. The attack drained approximately $55 million from the platform. Around a fifth of it was in the TRON native token, TRX.

However, in more recent news, suspicions point to Lazarus Group in the attack on crypto exchange Poloniex, resulting in a hack of approximately $117 million.

Poloniex’s co-founder, Deddy Lavid, added:

“Considering the nature of the attack, likely a private key breach, suspicion falls on the Lazarus group, known for their involvement in similar advanced access control attacks and substantial amounts of stolen funds in recent months.”

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