WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced Wednesday that North Korea was responsible for stealing around $1.5 billion in virtual assets from the cryptocurrency exchange ByBit.
The FBI has designated this specific North Korean malicious cyber activity as “TraderTraitor.”
“TraderTraitor actors are proceeding rapidly and have converted some of the stolen assets to bitcoin and other virtual assets dispersed across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains,” the agency stated in a public service announcement.
The FBI anticipates that the assets will be further laundered and eventually converted into fiat currency.
ByBit reported Friday that an attacker had gained control of an ether wallet and transferred the holdings to an unknown address.
The exchange, which serves over 60 million users worldwide, provides access to a variety of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether.
