Updated

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic says North Korea is laundering cryptocurrency stolen from Binance through homemade meme coins. Elliptic describes the scheme as designed to resemble ordinary trading and delay investigators. Elliptic's November 9 analysis found that at least six meme coins were created on the NEAR blockchain between November 5 and November 7, and about 117,000 NEAR, worth roughly $430,000 at the time, passed through them. The FBI on October 31 attributed the Binance theft, which occurred October 29 across 11 blockchains and which Elliptic estimates at $6.43 billion, to North Korea. Pyongyang has denied involvement. Elliptic said the tokens have no apparent practical purpose beyond moving funds within the laundering network. The launderers set up exchange pools holding their tokens and NEAR wallets holding stolen NEAR, while other wallets sold the tokens into those pools and collected NEAR, replacing direct transfers with what could look like legitimate trading profits. Each token cost about $90 to create and all sales were made by network wallets. Elliptic said transactions remain publicly recorded but further steps take time to unravel, and transactions can be blocked. Voice of America reported that Elliptic's update put bitcoin conversions at about $225 million, with $2.85 billion frozen or seized and roughly $3 billion still in theft-linked addresses.