Elliptic disclosed that North Korean hackers used a self-made meme coin to transfer funds stolen from Binance.
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Elliptic says North Korean hackers used a self-made meme coin to transfer funds stolen from Binance.
Article
Elliptic Reveals New North Korean Money-Laundering Scheme: Self-Made Meme Coins Used as Transit Hubs to Move Binance-Stolen Funds
PANews November 9 reports that blockchain analytics firm Elliptic disclosed in a post that North Korean hackers are using self-made meme coins to launder funds stolen in the Binance hack. They create junk tokens with no trading activity, set up liquidity pools, and then use different wallets to execute buy and sell orders, disguising the illicit proceeds as normal trading gains. Elliptic noted that this technique has appeared on the Tron, Solana, and NEAR networks. Reportedly, the hackers created at least six meme coins on NEAR—namely FUK, OLCCL, MEILI, MMLI, DABI, and SINU—and established separate NEAR liquidity pools for each token. Subsequently, the hackers used one set of wallets to purchase the tokens with stolen NEAR, then another set of wallets to sell the tokens and withdraw NEAR, thereby...
Key points
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PANews reported that blockchain analytics firm Elliptic disclosed this practice.
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The report alleges that North Korean hackers created junk tokens with no trading volume and established liquidity pools.
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The report alleges that the hackers bought and sold tokens through different wallets, disguising the stolen funds as proceeds from legitimate transactions.
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This technique is reportedly seen on the Tron, Solana, and NEAR networks.
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Hackers reportedly created at least six meme coins on NEAR: FUK, OLCCL, MEILI, MMLI, DABI, and SINU.
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The report describes the process of using stolen NEAR to buy tokens, then having another set of wallets sell and withdraw NEAR.
AI-assisted interpretation
The following is analysis, separate from reported facts. Verify important claims independently.
In short, the report describes first creating tokens and trading pools, then buying and selling back and forth using different wallets to disguise the funds' transfer path as trading activity.
Why it matters to readers
This indicates that stolen funds may have been made harder to trace through the use of tokens, liquidity pools, and multiple wallet sets.
Beginners should note that a token having transaction history does not mean its source of funds is genuine or secure.
Risks and unknowns
The current evidence is an excerpt of Elliptic’s disclosure cited by PANews, and Elliptic’s original report is not provided.
The evidence does not provide the relevant on-chain address, transaction hash, or amount of stolen funds.
The evidence does not indicate whether the relevant networks or trading platforms have frozen, flagged, or disposed of the funds in question.
The evidence does not provide independent analysis for further verification of fund ownership and the identity of North Korean hackers.
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Related concepts
Liquidity pool
This term is not in the glossary yet. Browse related concepts in the glossary.
