According to a confidential document obtained by Reuters, members of a United Nations expert panel have discovered a connection between North Korea and the crypto mixer called Tornado Cash. The document, which was submitted to the U.N. Security Council sanctions committee, reveals that North Korea used Tornado Cash to launder approximately $147.5 million worth of stolen cryptocurrency earlier this year.

The expert panel, consisting of eight members, was dissolved in April after Russia vetoed the renewal of its mandate. However, in the report they submitted on Friday, the monitors disclosed that they were investigating 97 suspected cyberattacks carried out by North Korea on cryptocurrency companies, involving assets worth around $3.6 billion. These attacks took place between 2017 and 2024, and one of the notable incidents was the theft of $147.5 million from the Seychelles-based crypto exchange HTX last year. According to the monitors, data from crypto analytics firm PeckShield and blockchain research firm Elliptic indicated that the stolen funds were laundered through Tornado Cash in March.

This year alone, the expert panel examined 11 cryptocurrency thefts totaling $54.7 million. The report highlights that a significant number of these attacks were perpetrated by North Korean IT workers who were unknowingly hired by small crypto-related companies.

In 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash, accusing the platform of laundering more than $7 billion worth of virtual currency, including over $455 million stolen by the North Korean hacker collective Lazarus Group.

It is believed that North Korea relies on cyber attacks to finance its nuclear and missile programs.

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