Blockchain analysts suspect North Korea-linked hackers behind $70-million crypto theft
Blockchain researchers say North Korea-linked hackers are likely behind a $70 million theft from crypto exchange CoinEx.
CoinEx, which says it is based in Hong Kong, said on Tuesday on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that wallets used to store the exchange's crypto assets had been hacked. It said on Friday it estimates its losses at $70 million, which it said is a «small portion» of its total assets.
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CoinEx has not said who it believes was behind the attack, although it has told Reuters it is aware that some security firms have claimed cyber-espionage teams linked to North Korea were to blame.
«The hacker's identity remains under investigation,» CoinEx told Reuters via email early on Friday. CoinEx did not respond to a Reuters comment request sent via email later on Friday, outside of Hong Kong hours, about Elliptic's research, which was published in a blog post.
Elliptic said that some of the funds stolen from CoinEx were sent to a crypto wallet address which had previously been used by the Lazarus Group to launder stolen funds. The funds were also sent to the Ethereum blockchain using a blockchain «bridge» — a way of transferring funds between different blockchains — which had also previously
