A Chinese trader assisted the North Korea-linked hacker Lazarus Group in laundering millions of dollars’ worth of stolen cryptocurrencies.

Chinese Trader Involved in Laundering Stolen Crypto

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT revealed on Oct. 23 that Yicong Wang, a Chinese over-the-counter (OTC) trader operating under various aliases, played a significant role in converting millions in stolen crypto into cash. According to ZachXBT, blockchain data shows that since 2022, Wang has facilitated the laundering of crypto through bank transfers. His OTC aliases include ‘Seawang,’ ‘Greatdtrader,’ and ‘BestRhea977’.

Investigative Findings

ZachXBT’s investigation into Wang’s activities began after a trader reported that his account had been frozen following a peer-to-peer transaction with Wang. A Tron wallet linked to Wang connected him to a series of transactions involving illicit funds tied to the $4.5 million hack of Alex Labs. Further on-chain data revealed that Wang’s wallet was involved in fund transfers related to several other hacks, including those affecting Irys co-founder, EasyFi, Bondly, and Maverick.

Details of the Hacks

The Lazarus Group was responsible for the $4.3 million Alex Labs hack in May 2024 and the $1.3 million Irys co-founder hack in July 2024. Funds transferred to deposit addresses associated with the hackers ended up in Wang’s addresses. Wang facilitated the commingling and bridging of funds to Tron addresses in transactions that occurred on August 13, 2024.

Additionally, ZachXBT reported that Tether blacklisted an Ethereum address holding 948,000 Ether tied to Wang in August 2024.

“While Yicong Wang has been banned from Paxful and Noones on multiple accounts (Seawang/Greatdtrader/BestRhea977) for laundering funds, he has since moved to conducting business offsite. It’s apparent from on-chain data that he has still been actively helping Lazarus Group within the past couple of weeks,” ZachXBT said.

Lazarus Group’s History of Major Crypto Hacks

This is the latest exposé from ZachXBT, whose dedication to unmasking malicious actors in the crypto space has helped put multiple individuals on the radar of law enforcement. ZachXBT has also been at the forefront of efforts to recover stolen funds involving crypto hacks, rug pulls, and ransomware attacks.

The Lazarus Group has been linked to multiple high-profile crypto hacks over the past few years, including the $625 million exploit of the Ronin blockchain. Both the U.S. Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigations have highlighted the Pyongyang-linked hackers as some of the most devastating cybercriminals in the world.

In April this year, ZachXBT revealed that the Lazarus Group had laundered more than $200 million from over 25 crypto hacks between 2020 and 2023.

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