North Korean laundering and exchange hacks
Elliptic says North Korean actors are using throwaway memecoins on NEAR to launder Binance hack proceeds. Separately, Mercado Bitcoin is partially back online a week after a ~$50M hack.
What we know
The Block reports about $430K in stolen funds passed through six memecoins, including an 'Elon 2028 President' token. Wu Blockchain covers the same Elliptic report. Mercado Bitcoin restored limited access but trading and withdrawals remain suspended.
How the story developed
Elliptic says North Korean actors are using throwaway memecoins on NEAR to launder Binance hack proceeds. Separately, Mercado Bitcoin is partially back online a week after a ~$50M hack.
Incoming Senate PSI chair Richard Blumenthal sent letters to World Liberty Financial, Fight Fight Fight LLC, Binance and Tether demanding records by January 4.
Binance will close EU accounts on Dec. 31 after failing to get a MiCA license, and hackers allege they hold 335.9M user records for a $900k ransom (unverified).
Binance is closing all French accounts by Dec 31 under MiCA, while CLARITY Act supporters see a lame-duck path.
Binance France will close customer accounts on Dec 31 after failing to secure MiCA authorisation. Separately, Blockstream says Bitcoin could adopt new signature schemes against quantum threats.
The Mercado Bitcoin hack has reached $48.6M, Trust Wallet users lost $1.1M to an iOS exploit, and a bank tied to Paraguay's president collapsed. Traders are citing the stress while BTC sits around $77–81k.
The Ueno Bank crisis and deposit freeze in Paraguay is pushing people to USDT. Tether's CEO and others are highlighting it.
Binance, Mercado Bitcoin, BitMart and Credit Mutuel Arka were all linked to hacks, with stolen funds being sold.
Binance published how attackers stole about $6.34B via fake job interviews and a compromised internal AI system. Separately, GitBook disclosed an AI-agent-driven breach, and Mercado Bitcoin paused its platform after an incident.
Mercado Bitcoin suspended deposits and withdrawals after a security incident, with Tether freezing 4.5M+ USDT; commentators cite further hacks, including an unverified EU exchange loss, and a Trade.xyz GitBook compromise.
Sources
“North Korea's launderers are creating throwaway memecoins”
View post →“Mercado Bitcoin restored limited account access a week after a nearly $50 million hack”
View post →By the Global Eye 24 desk, with AI assistance. Updated as the story develops. Spot an error? Write to corrections@globaleye24.com.