Lazarus Group Accused of Stealing £17 Million in Cryptocurrency, Leading to the Collapse of Cryptocurrency Exchange Lykke

BlockBeats News, August 18th, the North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group has been identified as the potential mastermind behind the funds stolen from the UK-registered cryptocurrency exchange Lykke. If confirmed, this would be the largest cryptocurrency theft carried out by North Korea in the UK to date. In recent years, this isolated country has obtained billions of dollars in funds by stealing cryptocurrency to support its military and nuclear projects.

Lykke, founded in 2015 and headquartered in Switzerland but registered in the UK, last year stated that it suffered a total loss of $22.8 million in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies, forcing it to halt operations. In March this year, a UK court ruled for the liquidation of the company following a lawsuit brought by over 70 affected users.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) under the UK Treasury identified North Korea as a potential perpetrator in a recent report. The report stated: “This attack has been attributed to North Korean malicious cyber actors who stole funds on the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks.” The Treasury stated that OFSI did not disclose the source of the information but has closely cooperated with law enforcement agencies.

Israeli cryptocurrency research firm Whitestream had also separately attributed this attack to the Lazarus Group. The company stated that the attackers laundered the stolen funds through two other notorious cryptocurrency companies to “help users obscure their traces,” thereby circumventing anti-money laundering regulations. However, other researchers have questioned this conclusion, stating that it is currently uncertain who attacked this exchange platform.