North Korean Hackers Used NEAR Tokens to Move Stolen Binance Funds
Elliptic said the tokens were cheap to create and helped attackers obscure transfers, though the blockchain trail remained traceable.
- According to the crypto research firm Elliptic, North Korea-linked hackers are laundering funds from the $6.4 billion Binance hack by creating meme coins on the NEAR blockchain.
- This technique mirrors the 2025 Bybit heist, where North Korean hackers moved at least $24 million using similar throwaway tokens to disguise transaction trails, Elliptic reported.
- Attackers mint worthless tokens—such as those featuring an 'Elon 2028 President' banner—to move assets through liquidity pools, avoiding direct wallet-to-wallet transfers that investigators can easily flag.
- While the hackers have laundered roughly $430,000 through six newly launched tokens, the activity remains traceable onchain, and the vast majority of stolen funds remain in theft-linked addresses.
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation attributes the ongoing operation to the hacking group TraderTraitor, as Elliptic's laundering tracker now monitors over 20,000 wallets across 16 blockchains.
32 Articles
32 Articles
Binance hack launderers use memecoins to move $430K
North Korea-linked launderers have created throwaway memecoins to move roughly $430,000 from the $6.4 billion Binance hack through decentralized exchange pools, according to Elliptic. Elliptic, in a Nov. 9 report by Tom Robinson, said the operators minted FUK, OLCCL, MEILI,…
Elliptic: North Korean hackers use memecoins to launder Binance hack funds
North Korean-linked hackers reportedly used newly created memecoins on the NEAR blockchain to launder funds stolen in Binance’s high-profile incident, according to a report by blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. Elliptic said the scheme involved creating at least six tokens between Nov. 5 and 7 and routing roughly $430,000 through them—tokens that drew little outside trading [...]
North Korea Uses NEAR Meme Tokens To Launder Binance Hack Funds
North Korea-linked attackers are using newly created meme tokens and decentralised exchange (DEX) liquidity pools to move cryptocurrency stolen in the $6.4 billion Binance hack, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. Between November 5 and 7, the operation routed approximately 117,000 NEAR, worth around $430,000, through at least six tokens created specifically for the activity.
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