Key Takeaways:
- A Chinese OTC trader, Yicong Wang, laundered over $17M in cryptocurrency for North Korea’s Lazarus Group, linked to 25 major hacks.
- Wang allegedly converted stolen digital assets to cash via bank transfers, including a $1.5M USDT transaction in 2024.
- Tether froze $374K USDT in a wallet connected to Wang and the Lazarus Group in 2023.
A Chinese over-the-counter (OTC) trader, Yicong Wang, has reportedly laundered over $17 million in stolen cryptocurrency for North Korea’s notorious Lazarus Group, which is responsible for multiple major crypto heists.
According to blockchain analyst ZachXBT, Wang converted the stolen digital assets into cash via bank transfers, facilitating the group’s operations.
1/ Meet Yicong Wang (王逸聪), a Chinese OTC trader who has helped Lazarus Group convert tens of millions of stolen crypto to cash from various hacks via bank transfers since 2022. pic.twitter.com/ARcwC7r3Xr
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) October 23, 2024
The revelation followed the freezing of a crypto account after a peer-to-peer transaction with Wang.
On August 13, 2024, Wang allegedly attempted a large transaction of approximately $1.5 million USDT (Tether) at a suspiciously low rate.
Wang is linked to a wallet that consolidated funds from over 25 Lazarus-related hacks.
In November 2023, Tether froze $374,000 in that wallet.
The Lazarus Group, known for its close ties to the North Korean government, is behind several large-scale hacks, including the $600-million Ronin bridge breach.
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