OKX has announced the temporary suspension of its decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator services.
OKX has announced the temporary suspension of its decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator services. This decision comes in the wake of allegations that these services were utilized by the North Korean hacking group Lazarus to launder funds linked to the recent $1.5 billion hack of Bybit.
In a statement released on Monday, OKX indicated that the suspension was a proactive measure taken after consultations with regulatory authorities. The exchange aims to implement necessary upgrades to safeguard its services from further misuse.
“Recently, we detected a coordinated effort by the Lazarus group to misuse our DeFi services,” the statement read.
The suspension follows heightened scrutiny from European regulators, who are examining whether OKX's decentralized trading and self-custody tools violate the European Union's Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulations.
Reports suggest that regulators are investigating the compliance of OKX’s services amidst growing concerns regarding the facilitation of illicit activities in the crypto space.
In addition to suspending the DEX aggregator, OKX confirmed that its wallet services will continue to be available to customers, although new wallet creation will be paused in select markets.
The situation is particularly significant as the Bybit hack is considered one of the largest breaches in the history of exchanges. CEO Ben Zhou previously disclosed that approximately $100 million in stolen assets were funneled through OKX's Web3 proxy.
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