On Thursday, the Norway police released an email statement announcing the seizure of 60 million Kroner (roughly $5.9 million). However, the seized cryptocurrency was linked to the Axie Infinity hack in March 2022. It resulted in losses estimated at around $600 million, with this seizure being one of the largest by Økokrim—the unit fighting economic and environmental crimes.
Marianne Bender, First State Attorney, declared that Økokrim is proficient in tracking money. She further said that this case displays the country’s remarkable capacity to trace funds on blockchain, no matter how advanced criminals have become with their strategies.
In March, the notorious Lazarus Group of North Korea perpetrated a massive cryptocurrency hack in which they stole over $600 million from Axie Infinity game developers. Disastrously, this all began with a fraudulent job offer. Following thorough investigations by the FBI, it was revealed that the perpetrators were indeed members of North Korea’s infamous Lazarus Group.
Thanks to Chainalysis, the US government was able to reclaim a whopping $30 million in stolen cryptocurrencies during September 2022. The fraudsters utilized Tornado Cash as their laundering tool before it got sanctioned by the Treasury Department of the United States.
The infamous Lazarus Group has been linked to numerous criminal activities and is widely assumed to be based in North Korea, despite the nation’s refutations. As per Chainalysis’ 2022 report, North Korea leads in cryptocurrency hacks with over $1.7 billion worth of digital assets pilfered by hackers from the country. Cryptocurrency hacking appears to have become one of North Korea’s important sources of financial stability.
