Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, on Friday, said the cryptocurrency exchange had recovered some funds stolen by the Lazarus Group, North Korean hackers.
Zhao revealed that the DPRK Group used Binance blockchain system to move part of the funds, spreading the crypto funds across over 86 accounts on the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
This year, Lazarus Group was accused of stealing $600 million worth of cryptocurrency linked to play-to-earn game, Axie Infinity. The U.S. Treasury Department had tied the North Korean hackers to the theft.
The Binance boss via his Twitter account, stated that $5.8 million was recovered, “The DPRK hacking group started to move their Axie Infinity stolen funds today. Part of it made to Binance, spread across over 86 accounts. $5.8M has been recovered. We done this many times for other projects in the past too.”
Lazarus Group is labelled as a threat to the cryptocurrency market, with crypto tracker, Chainalysis, stating about $400 million worth of cryptocurrency were stolen in seven attacks last year.
The administration of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, according to the United Nations, is specifically conducting “operations against financial institutions and virtual currency exchange houses” – this has led to United States’ sanctions on Lazarus Group.