"US Points to North Korea-Linked 'Lazarus' as Behind $700 Billion Cryptocurrency Hack"

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] Reports have emerged that the U.S. administration under Joe Biden has identified Lazarus, a North Korea-linked hacking group, as the culprit behind the hacking of the blockchain video game 'Axie Infinity' cryptocurrency.

According to Bloomberg News and others on the 14th (local time), the U.S. Treasury Department linked Lazarus to the cryptocurrency theft worth approximately $600 million (about 720 billion KRW) at the time and added the Ethereum wallet addresses connected to Lazarus to its sanctions list.

Axie Infinity, released by Sky Mavis, is a representative cryptocurrency game. Players can play Axie Infinity on Ronin, an Ethereum-based network, and exchange cryptocurrency. Last month, a hacking incident occurred in the service sector responsible for exchanging and transferring cryptocurrency. The scale of the theft exceeded $600 million, making it the largest cryptocurrency hack in history.

Bloomberg reported that among the stolen cryptocurrencies at the time, more than $86 million was identified as having moved from Ethereum wallets connected to Lazarus to other wallets through a service called 'Tornado Cash.'

Blockchain data company Chainalysis stated regarding the Treasury Department's recent action, "It confirms that North Korea's cybercrime group was behind last month's hacking."

Lazarus is presumed to be an organization linked to North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau. It is currently listed on the sanctions lists of both the United States and the United Nations.

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