Cryptocurrency on move; the $35 million Atomic Wallet hack’s illicit proceeds are once again in circulation, with sanctioned Russian-based exchange Garantex being the most recent recipient.
Elliptic, a blockchain security and compliance company, provided an update on the situation involving the monies stolen from Atomic Wallet on June 13. It claims that the sanctioned Russian-based cryptocurrency exchange Garantex was used to launder the stolen funds by the North Korean cyber group, the Lazarus Group, which is thought to be responsible for the attack.
Elliptic and other exchange partners made a major and effective cross-community effort to freeze the stolen cryptocurrency, the company claimed in a tweet. Lazarus, however, has recently discovered alternative ways to exchange their valuables for Bitcoin.
Garantex and the Russian Hydra dark web market were both sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in April 2022.
The Treasury Department observed that Garantex was established in late 2019 and had its initial registration in Estonia before relocating the majority of its operations to Moscow.
It furtehr stated,
“Analysis of known Garantex transactions shows that over $100 million in transactions are associated with illicit actors and darknet markets.”
Lazarus Group’s Crypto Attacks, A Cause Of Concern
It was revealed earlier this month that the Lazarus Group routinely uses the Sinbad.io mixer, via which the illicit proceeds were being transferred.
Elliptic noted that the Sinbad.io mixer is still being used to obscure the cash that the hackers withdrew from Garantex.
In May 2022, the Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on Blender.io (the previous version of Sinbad.io), saying that North Korea was using the service to promote its illegal cyber activities and the money-laundering of stolen virtual currency.
A number of Atomic Wallet user accounts were compromised on June 3 and up to $35 million worth of digital assets were lost as a result.
Five days later, Atomic announced that it has hired Chainalysis, a blockchain security and analysis firm, to conduct the primary incident investigation. Chainalysis declined to comment on the Atomic Wallet case when Cointelegraph contacted them for an update on the investigation.
The Harmony Bridge hack and the Ronin Bridge hack, as well as other significant crypto exploits, have been attributed to the renowned North Korean hacking group in recent months.