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Hackers from the DPRK are laundering billions stolen from Binance 6,3 via Musk meme coins
Hackers linked to North Korea are using meme coins featuring images of Elon Musk to launder cryptocurrency after a large-scale Binance hack of 6,3 billion dollars. The perpetrators create their own tokens and run the stolen funds through them, disguising the transactions as ordinary trading.
This was reported by Gizmodo, citing research by analytics firm Elliptic.
According to the FBI, the cryptocurrency theft at the end of October was carried out by the DPRK-linked hacking group TraderTraitor. Now its members are trying to hide the origin of the stolen assets.
How the hackers launder cryptocurrency through meme coins
The perpetrators create tokens and use wallets they control to buy and sell them on decentralized exchanges. In this way, the funds pass through multiple transactions that outwardly resemble ordinary trading.
“The tokens used to launder money are intended for one-time use. No one outside this operation buys them, and their price is set by the organizers themselves,” explained Elliptic cofounder Tom Robinson.
In particular, over three days the hackers created at least six meme coins on the NEAR blockchain. Among them were FUK, MEILI, and SINU. The tokens were adorned with images of a little monkey with a pink bow and Elon Musk with the caption “Elon — president 2028.”
About 430 thousand dollars of the stolen funds passed through these assets. However, that is less than 0,01% of the total amount stolen.
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