The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has urged crypto node operators, exchanges and the private sector to block transactions from addresses used to launder funds from the $1.4 billion Bybit hack.
The FBI confirmed earlier industry investigation that North Korea was responsible for the hack, which the US law enforcement agency dubbed as “TraderTraitor” in a Feb. 26 public service announcement.
The FBI noted in an April 2022 statement that TraderTraitor is commonly referred to in the industry as the Lazarus Group, APT38, BlueNoroff and Stardust Chollima.
“TraderTraitor actors are proceeding rapidly and have converted some of the stolen assets to Bitcoin and other virtual assets dispersed across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains,” the FBI said in its recent announcement.
“It is expected these assets will be further laundered and eventually converted to fiat currency.”
The FBI has called on Remote Procedure Call node operators, exchanges, bridges, blockchain analytics firms, decentralized finance service providers and others to block transactions linked to TraderTraitor.
The FBI’s public service call to block transactions linked to Bybit’s money launderers. Source: FBI
The Bybit hackers have already laundered more than 135,000 Ether (ETH) since the Feb. 21 incident — which comprised mostly liquid-staked Ether tokens, pseudonymous crypto analyst EmberCN noted in a Feb. 26 X post.
Another 363,900 Ether, worth around $825 million at current prices, has remained untouched since the hack.
Crypto forensics firm Chainalysis said the hackers had converted portions of the stolen Ether into Bitcoin (BTC), the Dai (DAI) stablecoin and other assets via decentralized exchanges, crosschain bridges and an instant swap service without Know Your Customer protocols.
Related: Bybit hack forensics show SafeWallet compromise led to stolen funds
The FBI shared 51 Ethereum addresses operated by TraderTraitor or closely connected to them for industry players to block or refrain from interacting with.
Meanwhile, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic has already flagged 11,084 crypto wallet addresses suspected of being linked to the Bybit exploit.
Those with important information were asked to reach out to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
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