North Korea-linked hackers used meme coins to move stolen crypto
Key points
- North Korea-linked hackers used newly created meme coins to move cryptocurrency stolen in the $6.4 billion Binance hack.
- Elliptic traced approximately 117,000 NEAR (around $430,000) through six newly created tokens.
- The laundering activity spanned NEAR, Tron and Solana, adding transaction layers without removing the public blockchain trail.
Elliptic has identified six homemade meme coins used to launder funds stolen in the $6.4 billion Binance hack.
The blockchain investigation traced approximately 117,000 NEAR (around $430,000) through six newly created tokens.
Elliptic attributed the laundering activity to North Korea-linked operators associated with the TraderTraitor hacking group.
The operation used decentralised exchange liquidity pools to disguise transfers between wallets holding stolen cryptocurrency.
Each token cost approximately 25 NEAR, worth around $90, to create before operators abandoned it.
The activity involved NEAR (NEAR), Tron (TRX) and Solana (SOL), with wrapped assets and stablecoins facilitating transfers.
Elliptic previously identified a similar technique during the laundering of cryptocurrency stolen in the 2025 Bybit hack.
The findings show how newly created meme coins can complicate stolen cryptocurrency investigations without concealing blockchain transaction histories.
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