The aftermath of the notorious Atomic Wallet hack continues to unfold as millions of stolen XRP tokens resurface, making their way through major crypto exchanges. The incident, which occurred in early June, left a trail of dismay as the popular hot crypto wallet fell victim to a cyberattack allegedly orchestrated by the infamous North Korean group, Lazarus.
Recently, an expert team from Xrplorer, a prominent crypto intelligence provider, managed to track some of the stolen tokens as they moved among various platforms. Their efforts shed light on the ongoing activities of the hackers, prompting action to reclaim the stolen funds.
Atomic wallet hackers are heavily laundering funds today, spawning new accounts to avoid blocklists. We're monitoring and working closely with exchanges to try and seize as much as possible. Still got ~20M XRP left to move. pic.twitter.com/1GdvvB4gmh
— XRP Forensics (xrplorer.com) (@xrpforensics) June 19, 2023
The forensics team took to social media to share its findings, revealing that the hackers were resorting to extensive money laundering tactics. By creating new accounts to evade blacklists, they aimed to conceal their tracks and dispose of the stolen XRP. The movement of the funds became apparent when millions of tokens flooded exchanges, with substantial amounts flowing into platforms such as KuCoin, Binance, OKX and Huobi.
Adding to the unfolding drama, the Xrplorer team provided fresh updates on the whereabouts of the stolen XRP. An additional two million tokens were reported to be on the move, as the hackers cycled through various exchanges in search of new opportunities to offload the pilfered funds. Research showed that MEXC might be a viable channel for further transactions, as smaller increments of XRP were recently observed entering that platform.
With approximately 18 million XRP tokens still unaccounted for, the hunt continues to bring the hackers to justice.
Alex Dovbnya
Yuri Molchan
Vladislav Sopov
