Blockchain analysts suspect North Korea-linked hackers behind $70 million crypto theft. Researchers in the blockchain industry believe that hackers with ties to North Korea are likely responsible for the theft of $70 million from the cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx.

On Tuesday, the cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx, which claims its headquarters are in Hong Kong, said on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that hackers had gained access to the cryptocurrency wallets used by the exchange to keep its digital assets. It stated on Friday that it believes its losses to be $70 million and that this amount represents a “small portion” of its assets.

Elliptic, a company conducting research on blockchains, has stated that “a number of factors” point to the Lazarus outfit, a hacker outfit affiliated with North Korea, as the party responsible for the attack.

CoinEx has not disclosed who it believes was responsible for the attack; nevertheless, the company has confirmed to Reuters that it is aware that several security firms have asserted that cyber-espionage teams affiliated with North Korea were responsible for the breach.

“The hacker’s identity remains under investigation,” CoinEx emailed Reuters early on Friday morning. Regarding the research conducted by Elliptic and detailed in a blog post, CoinEx did not respond to a comment request made by Reuters and submitted through email later on Friday, outside of Hong Kong business hours.

According to Elliptic, a portion of the monies that were stolen from CoinEx were transferred to an address of a cryptocurrency wallet that the Lazarus Group had previously utilized for laundering stolen cash. The funds were also transferred to the Ethereum blockchain through a blockchain “bridge,” which transfers funds between multiple blockchains. This “bridge” had been utilized in the past by the Lazarus Group.

A request for a response from Reuters sent out via email was not answered by the North Korean mission in New York City, located within the United Nations.

Chainalysis, a second blockchain research company, told Reuters on Thursday that it had “medium-high confidence” that North Korea was behind the hack. Chainalysis also believes that North Korea carried out the attack.

In addition to the attack on CoinEx, Elliptic stated that the Lazarus Group “appears to have recently ramped up its operations.” Since the beginning of June, the Lazarus Group has perpetrated four distinct attacks, each of which has stolen approximately $240 million worth of cryptocurrency assets.

According to a study by the United Nations, North Korea ramped up its theft of cryptocurrencies throughout the previous year, utilizing advanced methods to steal more in 2022 than in any other year. Previously, sanctions monitors have accused North Korea of employing cyberattacks to supplement the funding for its nuclear and missile programs.

In the past, North Korea has refuted charges that it engaged in hacking or other cyberattacks.