Lazarus Group-linked Wallets Moves $30M+ via Hyperliquid Ahead of US Regulatory Push

TLDR:

• Lazarus Group wallets moved over $30M through Hyperliquid’s HyperUnit as of August 31.
• ZachXBT linked the same wallets to $61M in stolen funds back in 2024.
• Funds reached KuCoin, LBank, Kraken, and unlabeled Tron-based services after bridging.
• Kraken parent Payward is in talks with Hyperliquid Labs for regulated US access.

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Lazarus Group-linked wallets have moved more than $30 million through Hyperliquid, blockchain researcher Emmett Gallic reported.

The OFAC-sanctioned North Korean hacking group routed the funds through the platform’s HyperUnit service as recently as August 31.

The disclosure arrives while U.S. policymakers and Kraken’s parent company pursue a regulated pathway for Hyperliquid to enter American markets.

The timing places sanctioned wallet activity alongside efforts to bring the exchange under formal U.S. oversight.

Sanctioned Wallets Active on Hyperliquid

Gallic identified the wallets as belonging to the Lazarus Group, a hacking collective sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The addresses funneled Bitcoin into Hyperliquid before converting it into Ethereum and Solana. Funds were then bridged across Tron, Solana and Ethereum networks.

The same wallet cluster was previously flagged by researcher ZachXBT in 2024. That earlier investigation linked the addresses to $61 million in stolen funds. The 2024 identification gives the current activity added weight, since the wallets were already under watch.

From Hyperliquid, the converted assets moved to several centralized exchanges. Recipients included KuCoin, LBank and Kraken, plus a number of unlabeled Tron-based services. Distributing funds across multiple platforms is a common method used to obscure the destination of illicit proceeds.

Gallic posted the findings on X, stating the addresses had been actively moving funds through Hyperliquid as recently as the day before his post. He cited ZachXBT’s 2024 identification as the basis for attributing the wallets to the Lazarus Group.

Regulated U.S. Entry Advances in Parallel

The wallet movements surfaced as Hyperliquid pursues formal access to U.S. markets. President Donald Trump said in August that CFTC Chairman Mike Selig was working on a compliant pathway for Hyperliquid. The announcement signaled direct federal engagement with the platform’s U.S. prospects.

Separately, Kraken parent company Payward is reportedly in advanced talks with Hyperliquid Labs. The discussions center on letting U.S. users trade a subset of Hyperliquid-linked perpetual futures.

Regulated exchange and clearinghouse Bitnomial would support the structure, subject to regulatory approval.

Coin Bureau reported that HYPE rose nearly 50%, climbing from $57 to $84, following news of the U.S. talks. The account referenced Bloomberg’s report that Payward, which holds CFTC licensing, could bring on-chain perpetual futures to American traders for the first time.

A “Kraken HIP-3 test DEX” was also reportedly spotted on Hyperliquid’s testnet two weeks earlier. The test deployment included permission controls that could support U.S. compliance needs. Coin Bureau noted HYPE gained another 5% following the Bloomberg report on the talks.

The post Lazarus Group-linked Wallets Moves $30M+ via Hyperliquid Ahead of US Regulatory Push appeared first on Blockonomi.

Source: https://blockonomi.com/lazarus-group-linked-wallets-moves-30m-via-hyperliquid-ahead-of-us-regulatory-push/