Recent data reveals a substantial decrease in Lazarus Group’s cryptocurrency holdings, shedding light on their involvement in cyberattacks. The notorious North Korean hacking collective, Lazarus Group, is reportedly holding approximately $47 million in cryptocurrency, according to data compiled by Dune Analytics, sourced from 21.co – the parent company of 21Shares.
The group’s digital asset portfolio includes $42.5 million in Bitcoin, $1.9 million in Ether, $1.1 million in Binance Coin (BNB), and an additional $640,000 in stablecoins, primarily BUSD.
This significant reduction in their holdings becomes apparent when compared to the $86 million held by the group just a few days after their alleged involvement in the Stake.com hack, which occurred on September 6.
Dune Analytics provides insight into 295 wallets associated with the Lazarus Group, as identified by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Surprisingly, the data suggests that the group does not possess any privacy coins such as Monero (XMR), Dash, or Zcash (ZEC), which are renowned for their enhanced anonymity and difficulty to trace.
Despite the reduction in their holdings, Lazarus Group’s crypto wallets remain highly active, with the most recent transaction recorded on September 20.
21.co highlights that the reported holdings may represent a conservative estimate of the group’s wealth. In their words,
“We should note that this is a lower-bound estimation of Lazarus Group’s crypto holdings based on publicly available information.”
Lazarus Group’s cyberattacks
The Lazarus Group has gained notoriety for its involvement in various cyberattacks, including the recent attack on the crypto exchange CoinEx, which resulted in a loss of at least $55 million. Additionally, the FBI has attributed the group to the Alphapo, CoinsPaid, and Atomic Wallet hacks, collectively amounting to over $200 million in stolen funds in 2023.
In contrast to their high-profile cyberattacks, recent data from Chainalysis reveals a noteworthy 80% decline in crypto thefts by North Korea-linked hackers compared to 2022. As of mid-September, these groups had pilfered a total of $340.4 million in cryptocurrency, down from a record-breaking $1.65 billion in stolen digital assets in the previous year.
In a concerning development, United States federal authorities have issued a warning about the “significant risk” of potential attacks on U.S. healthcare and public health sector entities by the Lazarus Group. This underscores the ongoing threat posed by the hacking collective to critical infrastructure and sensitive industries.
