Chinese crime network laundered over $1B for Lazarus: ZachXBT

ZachXBT says he infiltrated the network by posing as a customer, gaining information that helped trace funds from the $1.5 billion Bybit hack.

A Chinese organized crime syndicate laundered more than $1 billion stolen in multiple crypto exploits for North Korea’s Lazarus Group, according to blockchain investigator ZachXBT. 

In an Oct. 5 thread on X, pseudonymous blockchain investigator ZachXBT said he posed as a paying client to infiltrate the money laundering network in February 2025, just days after the Bybit hack. He put up $349,700 in stablecoins and took a 5% loss on each order to build trust with one of the network’s operators, known as “Jimmy Green.”

ZachXBT said the operations spanned Hong Kong and mainland China, and information supplied by the launderer helped him identify a cluster of more than $12 million in Bybit-linked funds, with Tether later freezing $442,000 in associated USDt (USDT). 

Read more