Insights:

• Greek officials have confirmed the nation’s first crypto seizure, freezing assets related to a $1.5 billion hack involving Bybit, linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.

• The Hellenic Anti-Money Laundering Authority has issued a freezing order, effectively locking the assets and halting any attempts to transfer them.

• This action is part of a larger ongoing effort to recover stolen funds, with approximately $72 million (5% of the stolen ether) now frozen and $870 million unaccounted for.

Key Developments:

• The Hellenic Anti-Money Laundering Authority discovered a suspicious transaction connected to a wallet traced back to the hack, as per Greece’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Kyriakos Pierrakakis.

• Analysts utilized Chainalysis Reactor to track the flow of funds, establishing a clear link between the cryptocurrency in a suspect’s wallet and the initial wallets involved in the hack.

• Current evidence has allowed for about €10 million ($11.7 million) to be returned to victims, although there is no indication if any of this relates to the latest seizure.

The hackers had previously utilized various methods to launder their funds, including mixers like Wasabi and Tornado Cash, as well as cross-chain bridges.