Researchers have found that stolen cryptocurrency is being moved through meme coins, speculative digital assets known for cartoon logos and internet jokes.
Hackers linked to North Korea are believed to have used at least six of these disposable tokens to launder about $430,000 from a multibillion-dollar theft.
Here's what to know
A theft that took just 20 minutes cost Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency, according to Futurism. The hackers, believed to be working for North Korea, had spent months preparing the attack.
New meme coins appeared shortly after the Binance theft, and crypto research firm Elliptic traced their role in laundering the stolen funds.
Hackers can make transfers of stolen assets look like ordinary trades by routing them through liquidity pools with otherwise worthless meme coins. The tokens cost little to create, and their creators can set the prices.
Elliptic said the tokens serve as a "container" through which stolen cryptocurrency can move.
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More background
The Binance theft, the largest in cryptocurrency history, follows another attack attributed to the same North Korean hacking group.
In the previous case, hackers took $1.5 billion from Bybit, a crypto exchange, according to Elliptic. At least $24 million from the theft was moved using meme coins.
The Binance-linked tokens include images of a monkey wearing a pink bow, a duck backed by a U.S. flag, and billionaire Elon Musk beneath an "Elon 2028 President" banner. Those designs reflect the internet-inspired imagery common in the meme coin market. Another token goes by "FUK."
Dr. Tom Robinson, Elliptic's cofounder and chief scientist, explained how the tokens' short lives help the scheme go unnoticed.
"Meme coins are launched and traded in their thousands, and most fade within days, so one more short-lived token with a cartoon logo attracts little attention," Robinson wrote in the firm's blog post.
"A wallet whose history shows trades in a new meme coin looks like a speculator rather than a launderer, unless someone checks where its money came from."
Where can I learn more?
Meme coins have played a role in other hacks, too.
• North Korean hackers are suspected in a $351 million heist targeting crypto exchange Bitget.
• Hackers seized Microsoft's X account to promote a Clippy coin, then posted a fake apology.
• In Cambodia, Interpol warned that romance and crypto scams are draining millions from Asian economies.
• A 20-year-old crypto scammer received time served in Florida after stealing a victim's $13 million.
• AI influencer Jean Philanthrope amassed tens of millions of views, then got a meme coin.
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