Binance Hack Launderers Mint Elon Musk and Animal Meme Coins to Move Stolen Crypto

North Korean hackers linked to the Binance breach are using homemade meme coins to launder some of the stolen cryptocurrency. The tactic routes funds through decentralised exchange liquidity pools, breaking the direct wallet-to-wallet link and making proceeds look like ordinary trading activity, which can slow investigators.

Elliptic found the method on Tron and Near, with a similar approach on Solana. On Near, at least six tokens were created between 5 and 7 November; about 117,000 Near, worth roughly $430,000, passed through them before some funds moved into stablecoins or a cross-chain bridge. Elliptic says the transactions remain traceable, and more than $3 billion of the stolen crypto was still unlaundered.