According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, North Korea-backed hackers created six Elon Musk-themed memecoins on the NEAR blockchain between November 5 and November 7 to launder stolen cryptocurrency from the $6.4 billion Binance hack. The operation involved 117,000 NEAR tokens worth $430,000 passing through the newly created tokens, which were quickly abandoned after November 8. The hackers used separate wallet groups to purchase and sell the tokens, disguising the transaction trail as ordinary trading activity. Elliptic found that nearly all trading activity originated from wallets connected to the laundering operation, with outside buyers accounting for less than 1% of trading volume. Each token cost approximately $90 to create and was paired with NEAR in decentralized exchange liquidity pools. The FBI previously attributed the Binance hack to North Korea's TraderTraitor group.
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