A total of 500 Bitcoins worth approximately $30.4 million were reportedly transferred from a cryptocurrency address linked to the $305 million DMM Bitcoin hack in May.
According to PeckShield Alert On August 22, the suspicious address initially split the funds between two separate addresses and each received approximately 250 BTC.
#AlertPeckShield #DMMBitcoin The address marked as a hacker address was moved by 500 people $BTC (value ~30.4 million USD) to 2 modern addresses photo: twitter.com/iINogvgwpK
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) August 22, 2024
DMM Bitcoin Attack Details
The funds are believed to be part of the theft. They may be linked to the 4,502.9 BTC taken from the DMM Bitcoin exchange in May. At the time of the theft, the amount was valued at about $305 million. However, its current value is just over $274 million. In response to the breach, DMM Bitcoin quickly raised $320 million to return money to victims.
ZachXBT blockchain investigator previously assigned attack on the Lazarus Group, a notorious hacker organization allegedly linked to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The blockchain analyst believes that the methods used to launder the stolen funds, as well as various off-blockchain indicators, strongly point to the involvement of the Lazarus Group in the heist.
Following the attack, hackers reportedly split the stolen Bitcoins into smaller batches of 500 BTC and transferred them to modern wallets. Peckshield identified that the last funds transferred since the May 31 incident came from one of those wallets.
In July, ZachXBT alleged that attackers transferred about $35 million in bitcoin to Cambodian exchange Huione Guarantee. The exchange has recently faced accusations of facilitating money laundering from various crypto hacks, pig slaughterhouse scams, and other illegal activities.
Previous trauma after DMM hack
Bitcoin DMM attackers typically send stolen cryptocurrency to privacy mixers before combining it with Ethereum and Avalanche using THORChain. The stolen assets are then converted to Tether, sent to Tron, and deposited to Huione.
In July, DMM Bitcoin lost 48 billion yen ($305 million) in Bitcoin (BTC) due to a hack. According to blog on the exchange’s website, 4,502.9 BTC “leaked” from the platform. The exchange has implemented measures to avoid additional unauthorized outflows.
DMM Bitcoin has suspended all spot trading on its platform in response to the hack and warned that Japanese yen withdrawals “may take longer than usual.”
The episode joins an already growing list of cryptocurrency thefts in 2024, which have already cost more than $473 million in losses. After Coincheck lost 58 billion yen in 2018, the breach is the second-largest in Japan.
According to Chain Analysis Report, Illegal activity on blockchain networks has fallen by almost 20% since the beginning of the year. However, malware and stolen funds have increased. Compared to $857 million last year, the inflow of stolen funds has doubled to $1.58 billion. The inflow of ransomware has also increased by about 2%, reaching $459.8 million.
Featured image from Ideogram, chart from Tradingview.com.
