North Korean Lazarus Group Transfers 400 ETH to Tornado Cash: $1.5 Billion Bybit Hacking Case Sparks New Waves!

The mysterious North Korean hacker group Lazarus has struck! On March 12, they transferred 400 ETH (approximately $750,000) to Tornado Cash, suspected to be part of the $1.5 billion in funds from the largest hacking case in Bybit's history that occurred on February 21. Certik's tracking has linked this funding to Lazarus's activities on the Bitcoin network. Bybit suffered a social engineering attack, leading to a breach in their secure wallet system, and cold wallets were completely emptied. Elliptic and Chainalysis have directly pointed to Lazarus, with ZachXBT revealing how they used DEX to convert stolen coins into ETH, which were then sent into a mixer. Can you believe these guys are still playing with fire?

New Money Laundering Tactic: PEPE Purchase and Cross-Chain Fog

Lazarus is not content to be quiet! ZachXBT exposed that on March 11, after withdrawing funds from Tornado Cash, they made a high-profile purchase of $3.1 million worth of 437.6 billion PEPE tokens. This operation revealed their cross-chain money laundering scheme—first converting using DEX, then leveraging Tornado Cash. Certik warns: this resembles their usual disruptive tactics. Fake phishing, malware, all at play, the evolution of Lazarus is chilling. Do you still think the crypto space is safe?

$1.5 Billion Cover: North Korean Weapons Funding Frenzy?

The $1.5 billion Bybit case surpasses the $610 million Poly Network incident in 2021, making it the largest ever! The U.S. has warned that Tornado Cash has laundered over $7 billion in illicit funds, with Lazarus accounting for $455 million, guiding funds toward North Korean weapon programs. Arkham data shows this group currently holds $1.18 billion in assets, mostly in BTC. Although U.S. courts loosened some sanctions last November, the controversy over mixers remains unresolved, and industry vulnerabilities are glaringly exposed. Bybit is bleeding, Lazarus is thriving; will you watch from the sidelines or face the digital disaster head-on?