• Norway has taken back close to $6 million in crypto funds from Lazarus, a digital currency hacking group stationed in North Korea.
• The money stems from an early 2022 hack initiated by Lazarus on the crypto gaming platform Axie Infinity.
• Norway’s senior public prosecutor thanked Binance and Sky Mavis for assisting Norwegian law enforcement agents in their efforts to get the money back.
Norway Takes Back Stolen Crypto Funds From North Korea
Norway has seized close to $6 million in crypto funds from Lazarus, a digital currency hacking group stationed in North Korea. This is allegedly a new record set by any region. The money stems from an early 2022 hack initiated by Lazarus on the crypto gaming platform Axie Infinity, where more than $625 million in digital asset monies were stolen from the company.
Accolades For Norway
Norway is garnering a few accolades for taking back around $5.8 million of the stolen funds at press time. While this is but a drop in the bucket of what was easily a very large sum, it has been extremely difficult in the past to take digital money back from cyber criminals – much less those trained and endorsed by officials in the North Korean government – and for this, Norway is getting recognition right now. The nation’s senior public prosecutor Marianne Bender said: „This is money that can be used to finance the North Korean regime and their nuclear weapons program.“
Sky Mavis & Binance Assistance
The company behind Axie Infinity is called Sky Mavis and is based in Vietnam; however, its founder Aleksander Larsen is of Norwegian descent. Though he hasn’t commented on the situation at this time, he did issue a public tweet thanking police officers in his native country for doing all they could do to get the money back and for showing such promise with retrieving funds. He also expressed gratitude towards Binance – the world’s largest digital currency exchange – for assisting Norwegian law enforcement agents with their efforts. A spokesperson for Binance responded saying: „When we learn of bad actors on our platform, we intervene and take appropriate action including freezing funds and working with law enforcement to return funds to their rightful owner(s).“
North Korea’s History Of Crypto Theft
It has been widely reported that North Korea has long been attempting to make off with illicit crypto funds as part of involving itself financially with its growing nuclear program; targeting areas such as Asia, Europe, and North America have all been apart of these efforts according to reports released recently about these activities.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Norway has done something remarkable which other nations are likely going to follow suit with when it comes taking back stolen cryptocurrency from hackers or cybercriminals involved with malicious activities; while they may not be able recover all of it – any amount recovered helps when it comes stopping illegal activities financed through digital assets like cryptocurrencies.