The U.S. Treasury Department has linked North Korean hacking group Lazarus to the recent theft of $625 million worth of cryptocurrency from the Ronin Network, an Ethereum-compatible blockchain tailored for the popular play-to-earn game Axie Infinity.

The hackers infiltrated the network last month, stealing about 173,600 ether, according to the Ronin Network, and 25.5 million USDC (a digital asset pegged to the value of the U.S. dollar and available on multiple blockchains including Ethereum and Solana). Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic says the group has managed to launder 18% of the stolen funds and continues to do so via Tornado Cash, a service that allows users to obfuscate their digital trails.

So what do we know about the culprits?

The Lazarus cyber collective has operated for more than 10 years with the North Korean government's blessing, gaining notoriety for its attack on Sony Pictures in 2014 and an $81 million heist on the Central Bank of Bangladesh.

A previous version of this video did not include Ronin's response to the hack. Additionally, their fundraising round post-hack including funding from Binance. Binance plans to make a major investment in the parent company that will own Forbes following Forbes’ previously-announced public listing transaction.

Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninabamb...


Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?s...

Stay Connected
Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter:   / forbes  
Forbes Video on Instagram:   / forbes  
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.