Analysis Crypto by Thebittimes.Com

Lazarus group orchestrated nearly 17% of all crypto hacks throughout 2023, mainly targeting centralized platforms like exchanges. Five successful crypto heists masterminded by Lazarus, a North Korean-funded hacker organization, reportedly resulted in over $300 million stolen from digital asset service providers within 12 months.  The state-sponsored criminal actors enacted a change in strategy, switching from defi targets to centralized platforms, according to Immunifi, a leading blockchain bounty company. As of September 2023, the group had siphoned at least $270 million in 102 days, with services like Atomic Wallet suffering heavy losses. The $115 million ferried from Atomic Wallet remains the single-largest incident attributed to Lazarus during the year.  Lazarus is also believed to have launched attacks on CoinEx, crypto casino Stake, and digital payment processor CoinsPaid.  You might also like: Lazarus Group: hackers from country with no internet threaten defi ...

Andrew Fierman highlighted the nuances of sanctions depending on who is involved, what is at stake and where they’re coming from. As many countries, entities and even individuals face international sanctions, the crypto industry seeks to find its place among increasing regulations.  Digital currencies have often been mentioned as an avenue for those subject to Sanctions to divert them, such as in the recent case of Russia. In such instances, exchanges and other industry players need to understand where they stand compliance-wise.  Research out of Harvard even suggested that central banks can use Bitcoin (BTC) to fight off sanctions. Speaking to Cointelegraph's managing editor Alex Cohen at the Israel Crypto Conference, Chainalysis head of Sanctions Andrew Fierman said Sanctions are nuanced depending on the many factors which surround the situation. “When you’re looking at countries like Iran and North Korea, from a US perspective, crypto has in fact been comprehensively sanctioned...