North Korea hackers behind 2019 $42 million Ethereum heist, South Korea police say

FILE PHOTO: A representation of cryptocurrency Ethereum is placed on a PC motherboard in this illustration taken June 16, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean police said on Thursday an investigation confirmed that hackers linked to North Korea's military intelligence agency were responsible for an Ethereum cryptocurrency heist in 2019, worth 58 billion won ($41.5 million) at the time.

More than half of the stolen assets were laundered through three crypto exchanges set up by the hackers themselves at a discount to Bitcoin and the rest were laundered through 51 different exchanges, the National Police Agency said.