Discussion
North Korea’s timing was inconsiderate; I’m in the middle of an election night guide to crypto and AI super PAC spending (subscribe to get it before Tuesday!).
But I wrote up a primer on the Binance hack, answering questions I’ve gotten about North Korea: https://www.citationneeded.news/its-always-north-korea/
How do we know it’s North Korea? Few attackers can pull off thefts this big, and DPRK hackers have a signature in how they fund attacker wallets, make test transactions, and launder funds.
Tether and Circle froze $2.4B+ which they can burn and reissue to Binance. Binance says another ~$600M was frozen by other protocols; that may be harder to get back. Binance’s losses will likely exceed what North Korea walks away with. (More on the hack itself, from last night: https://www.citationneeded.news/binance-theft/)
To cash out, the DPRK runs funds through mixers and bridges, then no-KYC exchanges, money mules, escrow services, platforms like Huione, banks and platforms in less-regulated jurisdictions, and OTC brokers. Sometimes they skip cashing out; they’ve used stablecoins directly for military procurement.
What’s it for? Under heavy UN sanctions, crypto theft has become a major source of revenue for North Korea. US officials also claimed in 2023 that about half of the country’s ballistic missile program was funded by cybercrime.
@molly0xfff I'm very curious how these other companies justify these bailouts on paper? Do they have some mutual support agreement? Is it a loan? Is it ad-hoc? Are they actually all the same company in 1000 trenchcoats?
Citation Needed is independent and reader-supported.
Coming next: which races to watch on election night, after crypto and AI’s $240 million blitz. Where they’re spending on battlegrounds vs. safe seats, and what their ads were actually about (spoiler: rarely crypto or AI).
@molly0xfff
I actually had the thought "oh no, Molly's deep in crypto U.S. election funding shenanigans right now, but we need her reporting on the Binance story!".
Okay, I might be getting a bit too parasocial with a newsletter/ podcast. Gonna reel it back in. 😄 But seriously, thanks.