Circle Accused Of Cashing In On Lazarus Group Cyberattack
Circle faces serious allegations from blockchain investigator ZachXBT regarding its financial transactions linked to the North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group. The company delayed blacklisting funds associated with Lazarus for over four months, longer than other stablecoin issuers. ZachXBT criticized Circle's overall effectiveness in combating money laundering, highlighting the group's involvement in a recent $20 million hack of the Indonesian exchange Indodax. Four stablecoin issuers, including Circle, have blacklisted addresses linked to Lazarus, freezing a total of approximately $6.98 million. Evidence suggests Lazarus laundered around $200 million into stablecoins from 2020 to 2023. Critics accuse Circle of prioritizing profit over the integrity of the crypto ecosystem, questioning its commitment to compliance and effective incident response amid rising concerns about stablecoin regulation and connections to state-sponsored hacking.
