Lazarus strikes again? $23m theft topples crypto platform

The famous Lazarus group of North Korea was blamed for a crypto robbery of $ 22.8 million which paralyzed Lykke, with the exchange registered in the United Kingdom, forcing its closure and triggering prosecution against investors.

The British Treasury Sanctions Bureau has linked the pirates supported by the state to Bitcoin, Ethereum and other Lykke assets, a Swiss platform once celebrated for its zero trading model. The collapse is added to a world trace of the raids led by Lazarus which brought back billions of Pyongyang to finance arms programs and escape sanctions – and leaves the founder of Lykke, Richard Olsen, faced with bankruptcy, liquidation procedures and continuous legal examination in Switzerland.

Officials of the British Treasury have appointed the cyber-agents of the hermits as part of the massive flight which finally forced the closure of the commercial platform.

About The telegraphPyongyang has targeted digital asset platforms worldwide and has generated billions of stolen funds to get around international sanctions and financial weapons development programs.

Platform based on forced Switzerland to liquidate

Richard Olsen, great-grandson of the Swiss banking patriarch Julius Baer, founded Lykke in 2015. He operated from the “Crypto Valley” in Switzerland in Zug while maintaining the inscription in the United Kingdom.

The platform offered an exchange of cryptocurrency without transaction costs before attacking the operational suspension.

“The attack was attributed to maliciousness Democratic People’s Republic of Korea CyberactorsWho stole funds on Bitcoin and Ethereum networks, “said the Treasury ofs in his report.

The company has lost Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (Ethn), and other cryptocurrencies in the violation and were finally forced to stop commercial operations.

Experts do not agree on the conclusions

Whitestream, an Israeli research organization on cryptocurrencies, also accused Lazarus of being responsible for the Lykke hack. They also claimed that the attackers had laundered stolen funds through two cryptocurrency companies known to facilitate the obscure of transactions and bypass the money laundering controls.

Other researchers have challenged these conclusions, arguing that current evidence is insufficient to definitively identify the exchange hackers.

The Financial Conduct Authority issued warnings concerning Lykke in 2023, noting that the company was neither registered nor authorized to offer financial services to consumers in the United Kingdom.

Despite the promises to return the customer funds, the platform froze trading after hacking and officially ceased operations in December.

Customers continue recovery by liquidation

More than 70 customers brought a petition for liquidation before the British courts and claimed losses totaling 5.7 million pounds of the company’s closure.

Lykke’s Swiss parent company entered the liquidation last year, while founder Richard Olsen was declared bankrupt in January.

British legal deposits indicate that Olsen faces criminal surveys in Switzerland, although he has not responded to requests for media comments.

The Lazarus group has been linked to many high-level cryptocurrency tasks in the world. They use several techniques to inflict exchanges safety and whiten stolen funds via digital transaction networks.