North Korea Uses Criminal Networks to Launder Stolen Crypto, RUSI Report Says
Experts at the UK's Royal United Services Institute found that North Korea increasingly launders stolen cryptocurrency through existing criminal financial networks, including OTC desks, mixers, and cross-chain bridges, rather than isolated infrastructure.
Analysts from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) have identified a shift in North Korea's cryptocurrency laundering tactics. The regime now relies more heavily on pre-existing criminal financial pipelines instead of building separate, secluded channels.
The illicit ecosystem includes over-the-counter trading services, peer-to-peer intermediaries, unlicensed exchangers, crypto mixers, cross-chain bridges, and scam platforms. RUSI investigators also detected signs that funds stolen by North Korean actors are being commingled with proceeds from 'pig butchering' romance-investment frauds.
The findings suggest an increasingly intertwined global underground where state-sponsored theft and cybercriminal operations share infrastructure, complicating tracing efforts.
Source: ForkLog