This 2023 U.S. Treasury Department announcement is interesting. It documents how several OTC traders converted cryptocurrency held by North Korean hackers into fiat currency.
After stealing the coins, the North Korean hackers first used on-chain mixers and decentralized exchanges to obscure their origins.
They then handed the laundered coins to an OTC trader, who transferred them to major mainstream exchanges and sold them for fiat currency. Several such transactions took place in 2021 alone, amounting to millions of dollars.
Another OTC trader in Hong Kong was responsible for making payments. Using shell companies, he paid other businesses, allowing North Korea to use seemingly legitimate corporate accounts to evade bank scrutiny and access the U.S. financial system.
Ultimately, the fiat currency they obtained would support the North Korean regime and its missile and nuclear weapons programs.
Also sanctioned in the same action was Shim Hyun-sop, a representative of North Korea’s Kwangson Bank. He is wanted by the FBI and accused of using shell companies for more than a decade to trick U.S. banks into transferring dollars and help North Korea settle trade payments.
After stealing the coins, the North Korean hackers first used on-chain mixers and decentralized exchanges to obscure their origins.
They then handed the laundered coins to an OTC trader, who transferred them to major mainstream exchanges and sold them for fiat currency. Several such transactions took place in 2021 alone, amounting to millions of dollars.
Another OTC trader in Hong Kong was responsible for making payments. Using shell companies, he paid other businesses, allowing North Korea to use seemingly legitimate corporate accounts to evade bank scrutiny and access the U.S. financial system.
Ultimately, the fiat currency they obtained would support the North Korean regime and its missile and nuclear weapons programs.
Also sanctioned in the same action was Shim Hyun-sop, a representative of North Korea’s Kwangson Bank. He is wanted by the FBI and accused of using shell companies for more than a decade to trick U.S. banks into transferring dollars and help North Korea settle trade payments.
