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Crypto exchanges Binance and Huobi today froze accounts containing around $1.4 million worth of cryptoassets stemming from the June 2022 hack of Harmony’s Horizon Bridge. This was made possible thanks to Elliptic’s intelligence and the recipient’s quick response.
The Horizon cross-chain bridge was attacked on June 24, 2022, resulting in the loss of $99.6 million in crypto assets. These funds were then laundered through the now sanctioned Tornado Cash.
Elliptic investigators were able to trace the entire fund through this mixer and attribute the hack to the Lazarus Group, a cybercrime organization controlled by North Korea. This attribution was subsequently confirmed by the FBI.
The stolen funds remained dormant until recently, when our investigators began to see them funneled through complex chains of transactions to exchanges. By promptly notifying these platforms of these unauthorized deposits, they were able to suspend these accounts and freeze the funds.
Simone Maini, CEO of Elliptic, said: “Today, money laundering and stolen funds linked to North Korea were detected and frozen, in real time. As an industry, we have the power and responsibility to prevent digital assets from becoming havens for money launderers and sanctions evaders, and ensure they are a force for good.”
A screenshot from Elliptic Investigator, showing some of the transaction paths from Horizon Bridge to exchanges.
Contact us for a demo and learn more about how Elliptic’s leading blockchain analytics solutions can enable you to solve your digital asset sanctions compliance challenges.
