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A report from United Nations sanctions monitors reveals that North Korea allegedly laundered $147.5 million stolen from a cryptocurrency exchange through the Tornado Cash platform in March. 
This laundering activity is just another case of the international community being worried about the use of <a href="https://coingape.com/alexander-vinnik-pleads-guilty-in-9-billion-crypto-laundering-case/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">cryptocurrencies</a> to evade the global sanctions.
<h2 id="north-korea-s-involvement-with-tornado-cash">North Korea’s Involvement with Tornado Cash</h2>
United Nations sanctions monitors have detailed North Korea’s latest cyber-financial activity, involving the laundering of $147.5 million through the crypto mixer Tornado Cash.The money, which is believed to have been stolen from the <a href="https://coingape.com/htx-pulls-hong-kong-license-three-days-after-submission-here-why/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">HTX cryptocurrency</a> exchange at the end of last year, was channeled through Tornado Cash in March as per the document the monitors submitted to the U. N. Security Council sanctions committee.
The research results, which are based on the data from the crypto analytics company PeckShield and the blockchain research company Elliptic, stress the North Korea’s advanced methods of evading the international sanctions.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
 NORTH KOREA LAUNDERED $147.5 MILLION IN STOLEN CRYPTO IN MARCH, SAY UN EXPERTS
 North Korea laundered $147.5 million through virtual currency platform Tornado Cash in March after stealing it last year from a cryptocurrency exchange, according to confidential work by United…
 — *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeItaone/status/1790474957815758870?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">May 14, 2024</a>
</blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The monitors have been looking into a total of 97 believed North Korean cyberattacks on cryptocurrency companies from 2017 to 2024, which is worth about $3.6 billion. In the year 2024, for instance, <a href="https://coingape.com/north-korean-group-lazarus-strikes-again-with-200-mln-crypto-laundering-case/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">North Korea</a> is suspected of being behind 11 cryptocurrency thefts worth a total of $54.7 million. 
A great number of these cases are said to be the work of the DPRK IT workers who were mistakenly employed by small crypto-related companies and thus, they got the indirect access to North Korea to exploit these platforms.
<h2 id="global-responses-and-arrest">Global Responses and Arrest</h2>
After these findings, the international community has increased its attention and restriction actions against Tornado Cash, which is frequently used by hackers to hide the origin of dirty money.
In 2022, the U. S. government imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash, claiming that it was a money-laundering tool that was used by the North Korean cybercriminals. This decision was a part of the wider programme to control digital platforms that are used for financial fraud.
The situation became more clear when the developer of Tornado Cash,<a href="https://coingape.com/tornado-cash-developer-alexey-pertsev-jail-stay-extended-to-february-2023/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Alexey Pertsev</a>, was sentenced to 64 months in prison by a Dutch court for the laundering of over $1.2 billion. This case has shown the constant problems and legal difficulties of the cryptocurrency activities that are worldwide, especially those that can be related to the international security threats.
Read Also: <a href="https://coingape.com/microstrategy-chairman-issues-important-bitcoin-pension-funds-prediction/#:~:text=Michael%20Saylor%2C%20Chairman%20of%20MicroStrategy,in%20cryptocurrencies%20continues%20to%20rise." rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">MicroStrategy Chairman Issues Important Bitcoin-Pension Funds Prediction</a>
The post <a href="https://coingape.com/north-korea-accused-of-laundering-147-5m-in-crypto-via-tornado-cash/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">North Korea Accused of Laundering $147.5M in Crypto via Tornado Cash</a> appeared first on <a href="https://coingape.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CoinGape</a>.

North Korea Accused of Laundering $147.5M in Crypto via Tornado Cash

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