The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury has added 20 new bitcoin addresses to its sanctions list.
According to OFAC, the new addresses belong to Tian Yinyin and Li Jiadong, tied to North Korea-supported hacker group Lazarus. OFAC says:
"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) trains cyber actors to target and launder stolen funds from financial institutions. Tian and Li received from DPRK-controlled accounts approximately $91 million stolen in an April 2018 hack of a cryptocurrency exchange (referred to hereinafter as 'the exchange'), as well as an additional $9.5 million from a hack of another exchange. Tian and Li transferred the currency among addresses they held, obfuscating the origin of the funds."
According to the agency, hackers associated with North Korea have stolen billions of dollars in cryptocurrencies over the last two years.
In relation to these hacks, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said:
"The North Korean regime has continued its widespread campaign of extensive cyber-attacks on financial institutions to steal funds. The United States will continue to protect the global financial system by holding accountable those who help North Korea engage in cyber-crime."
Last month iHodl reported North Korea was stealing cryptos on Telegram groups with the help of the hacker group Lazarus.
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