FBI Urges Immediate Action to Block Transactions Tied to North Korea’s $1.5 Billion Crypto Heist

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that North Korea was behind the recent $1.5 billion hack of the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is urging immediate action from the public and private sectors to block transactions tied to North Korea’s $1.5 billion crypto heist, as the hackers are swiftly laundering funds to evade recovery.

In a new public service announcement (PSA), the FBI confirmed that North Korea was behind the recent hack of the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, stealing around $1.5 billion. The agency also assigned a name to the hacking group, TraderTraitor, and provided a list of Ethereum addresses suspected of holding or laundering the stolen funds.

“FBI encourages private sector entities including RPC node operators, exchanges, bridges, blockchain analytics firms, DeFi services, and other virtual asset service providers to block transactions with or derived from addresses TraderTraitor actors are using to launder the stolen assets,” the announcement concludes.

The FBI is urging any private sector entities to report any suspicious activity to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov or a local FBI field office.

The agency's involvement in the case began after Bybit experienced a significant security breach, leading to the theft of approximately $1.5 billion in ethereum. The FBI investigation attributed the heist to North Korea's Lazarus Group, notorious for funding Pyongyang's nuclear program through cybercrimes.

Following the incident, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou assured users of the exchange's solvency, stating that all client assets are backed 1:1 and that the exchange has secured emergency funding to cover the losses.

However, the cybercriminals are quickly working to cover their tracks and obfuscate the origins of the stolen funds. As the FBI explained in its PSA:

"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. It is expected these assets will be further laundered and eventually converted to fiat currency."