Lazarus-Linked Wallets Sold Over $30 Million in Bitcoin on Hyperliquid
Wallets linked to Lazarus sold over $30 million in Bitcoin on Hyperliquid over three weeks, moving the funds to Ether, Solana, and centralized exchanges.
The activity linked to the North Korean state-sponsored cyberattack group Lazarus emerged during discussions about bringing Hyperliquid into compliance with the U.S. financial system. The flow raises new questions regarding sanctions and compliance controls across platforms.
According to on-chain data reviewed by Arkham at the request of CoinDesk, the wallets sold more than $30 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) in the last three weeks. The funds from the sales were used to purchase Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL). The assets were then transferred to centralized cryptocurrency exchanges such as Kraken, LBank, and KuCoin.
The wallets in question were first identified as linked to Lazarus by on-chain researcher ZachXBT in 2024. However, the data alone does not prove that the exchanges were aware of the source of the funds or consciously accepted these assets.
Hyperliquid’s U.S. Plan Increases Compliance Pressure
Hyperliquid has become one of the largest platforms where users connect their wallets directly to perform leveraged crypto trades. According to DefiLlama data, the platform has approximately $13.3 billion in open interest, and its trading volume in the last 30 days reached $205 billion. Cumulative futures trading volume has exceeded $5 trillion.
U.S. President Donald Trump stated this month that Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mike Selig is working to bring Hyperliquid to the U.S. in a “compliant and legal” manner. Such a move could require the platform to more strictly implement sanctions screening, anti-money laundering, and customer protection rules.
Kraken stated that it uses controls to detect and block assets linked to sanctioned wallets before they enter the platform. LBank noted that transactions spreading across platforms and countries create industry-wide challenges, while KuCoin stated it cannot comment on the activity without seeing the data.