The North Korean hackers have moved $3.2 million of Gate.io’s $230 million hack of 2018 after 4.5 years, per on-chain sleuth ZachXBT. Breaking the news, ZachXBT tweeted:
Dormant funds left over from the April 2018 Gate $230m hack by North Korea began to move after over 4.5 years.
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) February 22, 2023
0xff8E0c9Cf3d7C0239aB157eC2D56bC1cFcD80757
A small amount was deposited to MEXC 10 hrs ago. pic.twitter.com/iHhniTtVIM
A rug-pull survivor turned 2D detective, ZachXBT states the activity reportedly involves the North Korean hackers moving 1944.72 Ethereum (ETH) of the stolen funds.
Reportedly, in total, “the North Korean co-conspirators stole” the said fund in 7 different cryptocurrencies. With a total reported theft of $234,337,668.88, the stolen cryptocurrencies were Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum, Zcash (ZEC), Dogecoin (DOGE), Ripple (XRP), Litecoin (LTC), and Ethereum Classic (ETC), per ZachXBT.
Gate.io had reportedly ended up losing 10,777.94 Bitcoin, 218,790 ETH, 3,783 ZEC, 99,999,000 DOGE, 3,043,268 XRP, 11,000 LTC, and 175,866 ETC.
The current price of the stolen ETH approximately falls to $3.2 million. The hackers had already reportedly laundered a considerable share of the stolen $230 million, says ZachXBT. Ethereum worth $3.1 million is reported to have been moved to “a single address 0x27Cf…0FbdCe.”
Eight other transactions have also been reportedly initiated by North Korean hackers with each being 1.74 ETH. Per ZachXBT, a “small amount was deposited to MEXC 10 hrs ago.”
ZachXBT reportedly flagged Gate.io in November for attempting to keep the April 2018 hack behind the curtain. The transfers by hackers in question ended up emptying the wallet of the hackers, as it now has $0.03 in ETH left, per Etherscan data.
In related Gate.io news, the exchange is reportedly set to enter Hong Kong, with the government bracing to invest $6.4 million in web3.
