Bybit News: North Korea’s Crypto Laundering Scheme and Bybit Hack

Recent revelations have shed light on North Korea’s sophisticated methods for laundering stolen cryptocurrency, with Bybit being a notable victim of one such hack. Here’s a closer look at the developments.

How North Korea Launders Billions in Stolen Crypto

North Korea faces challenges of offramping stolen crypto assets after hacking companies or protocols. It cannot send funds to major exchanges due to KYC checks and law enforcement cooperation. Instead, it uses a network of OTC brokers and looks for non-compliant exchanges globally to launder the stolen funds. An example of a hack included the pillaging of $1.5 billion from crypto exchange Bybit.

Crypto Bloodbath Drives Options Buying; Trump’s Crypto Reserve and Tariff Announcements Cause Volatility

The current crypto bloodbath is pushing investors to seek protection by buying options as volatility surges. According to Bybit X Block Scholes crypto derivatives analytics report, investors are hedging against further losses by purchasing options. When Trump announced the U.S. would create a crypto strategic reserve consisting of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA), prices of these assets initially surged. However, their rallies were short-lived as Trump’s promises of new tariffs on imported goods led to macroeconomic uncertainty, causing investors to shy away from riskier assets and resulting in sudden price swings.