Binance Sanctioned Wallet Receives $2M in Crypto With North Korea Allegations

Key Points:

• According to an OFAC statement, a swath of Binance crypto-holding wallets was sanctioned for possible connections to the North Korean government.
• The exchange’s wallets received more than $2 million in cryptocurrency.
• The money was subsequently transferred to North Korean companies.

Binance wallets with links to North Korea have been sanctioned, according to a statement from the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Meanwhile, on Tuesday, US agents raided a slew of wallets for possible ties to the North Korean regime.

OFAC said that the banned wallets, which included Bitcoin, Ether, Tether’s USDT, and Circle’s USDC, belonged to a 58-year-old North Korean citizen called Sang Man Kim. Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange, housed the wallets.

That’s not to claim Binance actively controlled the wallets; they seem to be automatically-generated wallet addresses maintained by the exchange and available to any user. According to blockchain statistics, there have been no transactions to or from these addresses in the last year.

Brian E. Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist and Financial Intelligence, stated:

“The United States and our partners remain committed to combatting the DPRK’s illicit revenue generation activities and continued efforts to steal money from financial institutions, virtual currency exchanges, companies, and private individuals around the world.”

According to the OFAC, the Binance wallets received more than $2 million in cryptocurrency. After that, the monies were transferred to North Korean companies, resulting in the sanctions.

The sanctions were coordinated with the Republic of Korea, which named two of the sanctioned parties jointly. South Korea had sanctioned three of the organizations in February.

Pyongyang University of Automation is one of the sanctioned institutions in charge of teaching personnel who go on to serve the DPRK’s principal intelligence agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has also designated two more RGB-controlled operation centers to lead offensive cyber activities. The facilities were linked to the Lazarus Group, a hacking outfit sanctioned by OFAC and renowned for stealing $620 million in virtual currency from a blockchain project in 2022.

North Korea’s use of illicit cyber activities to escape international sanctions, including cryptocurrency heists, has become a rising threat for US national security.

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Harold

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