North Korean hackers are creating and using memecoins to obscure and launder cryptocurrency tied to the 2024 Binance hack, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. Coverage across outlets says the laundering involves transfers traced on the NEAR blockchain, where tokens and liquidity activity are used to make links between wallets harder to follow.
Cointelegraph reports that Elliptic traced stolen funds through six new tokens on NEAR, describing how hackers use liquidity pools to blur transfers between wallets. CoinDesk adds more specific context, saying the six homemade memecoins were used to launder 117,000 NEAR (about $430,000) connected to the larger $6.3 billion Binance incident.
Gizmodo also frames the activity as North Korea’s use of “meme” tokens as a method for laundering crypto from the Binance hack, with its emphasis on Elon Musk-themed memecoins. While all accounts attribute the analysis to Elliptic and link the scheme to the same Binance hack, they differ mainly in how much technical detail they include and how they characterize the token theme.
