News linked to both this project and an event.
According to The Block, blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs released a report stating that North Korean hacker groups stole approximately $577 million in crypto assets during the first four months of 2026—accounting for 76% of global hacking losses over the same period. All these losses stemmed from two major incidents that occurred in April: KelpDAO was attacked by the TraderTraitor group, resulting in $292 million in losses; and Drift Protocol was compromised by another North Korean sub-group, suffering $285 million in losses. Preparations for the latter attack began as early as March 11, and funds were fully extracted within 12 minutes. The two incidents employed distinct money-laundering pathways: stolen funds from Drift remain largely dormant on Ethereum, whereas funds stolen from KelpDAO were rapidly swapped into BTC via THORChain, with subsequent laundering facilitated by Chinese intermediaries. TRM Labs noted that since 2017, North Korea’s cumulative crypto theft has exceeded $6 billion—and its share of global losses has risen steadily, from less than 10% in 2020 to 64% in 2025.
According to ZDNet Korea, South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) issued a tender notice on April 15 to introduce cryptocurrency transaction tracking software from firms including Chainalysis and TRM Labs. The system aims to monitor cryptocurrency transactions in real time, trace hidden assets of tax evasion suspects, and combat disguised inheritance, gifting, and offshore tax evasion involving digital assets. It can track approximately 70 million types of cryptocurrencies—including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and stablecoins—across 45 blockchain layers. The system also features “de-mixing” capabilities to identify mixing-service-based money laundering techniques and can perform partial identity verification for non-custodial wallets such as MetaMask and Phantom. This marks the NTS’s third deployment of such solutions since 2024; system construction is scheduled for completion in June, with official operation commencing in July.