A company based in North Korea known as Lazarus Group managed to convert $200 million worth of cryptocurrency into traditional fiat currency between August 2020 and October 2023, according to an investigation conducted by ZachXBT, a cryptocurrency investigator.

Through the investigation, more than 25 vulnerabilities were uncovered across various blockchains. Illegal funds were traced moving through mixers, peer-to-peer marketplaces, and centralized exchanges, illustrating the process of removing these funds from the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

ZachXBT published a statement on Monday, revealing that many individuals within the industry have been affected directly or indirectly by the cyberattacks carried out by Lazarus Group, suggesting that the number of victims is only likely to grow.

In addition, ZachXBT identified specific accounts at Noones and Paxful, both peer-to-peer marketplaces, that received funds from these criminal activities and were subsequently used to convert the stolen crypto into traditional currency.

Lazarus Group is notorious for executing sophisticated cyberattacks to steal money. The group has been associated with major cryptocurrency breaches such as the $100 million Harmony bridge exploit in January 2023 and the Ronin bridge hack in March 2022.

The investigation disclosed that the stolen funds were first converted into USDT stablecoin before being exchanged for real money and withdrawn. Lazarus Group previously enlisted the help of over-the-counter (OTC) traders based in China to facilitate the conversion of cryptocurrency into fiat currency.

In November 2023, Tether blacklisted over $374,000 of these stolen funds, and ZachXBT highlighted that three stablecoin issuers took the same action against an additional $3.4 million identified in addresses linked to Lazarus.

Established in 2009, Lazarus Group has become one of the most notorious cryptocurrency hacking entities. From the span of six years leading up to 2023, the group managed to steal cryptocurrency assets totaling more than $3 billion.