'Elon 2028 President', Monkey, Duck and More: How North Korean Hackers Laundered Stolen Binance Crypto
North Korean-linked launderers used newly created frivolous meme tokens to obscure stolen funds from Binance , blockchain analytics firm Elliptic reported on Monday.A New Tool for Dirty Crypto Money?Elliptic identified at least six meme tokens created on the NEAR Protocol between Nov. 5 and Nov. 7. Each token was paired with stolen NEAR tokens through a separate liquidity pool.Each token experienced intense trading within hours, using stolen NEAR, before activity stopped, Elliptic reported. The tokens featured images of a monkey, duck, chimpanzee, fox and gold badge.One token showed Elon Musk beneath an "Elon 2028 President" banner. Elliptic said there’s nothing to suggest Musk has any connection to the tokens.“At no point do the stolen funds move directly from a buying wallet to a collecting wallet, because the pool sits in between,” Elliptic mentioned. “To a casual observer, the collecting wallets look like ordinary traders who have sold a token at a profit.”Elliptic said it had identified the same laundering technique in Bybit in 2025.The Allegations and Counter-AllegationsBinance estimated , roughly more than four times the amount lost in the Bybit hack. The company said it had covered approximately $6 billion, or 95% of the affected amount, by purchasing replacement tokens with company funds.The FBI said that carried out what is now considered the biggest cryptocurrency theft ever.However, North Korea alleging that the U.S. is trying to mislead international public opinion.This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.Preview Photo courtesy: Shutterstock