A blockchain analyst has flagged approximately $21 million in outgoing transactions from addresses linked to SBI Crypto, a cryptocurrency mining operation based in Japan, as “stolen.”
ZackXBT, a well-known figure in blockchain investigation, drew attention to these movements originating from SBI Crypto. In a Telegram post, he stated that the misappropriated funds include various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Bitcoin Cash.
According to ZackXBT, the digital assets were subsequently transferred to platforms offering immediate cryptocurrency exchanges, or processed through Tornado Cash, a service designed to obscure transaction origins.
This incident is one of many security breaches observed in the crypto space recently. Earlier this year, crypto exchange Bybit experienced a substantial hack, resulting in losses of $1.4 billion. Additionally, crypto neobank Infini suffered a theft amounting to nearly $50 million. Reports suggest that by the end of February, the total value of cryptocurrencies illicitly obtained from crypto platforms had nearly matched the aggregate losses recorded throughout 2024.
Tornado Cash functions as a mixing service, enabling users to conceal their Ethereum transaction details. In 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department initially put the platform on its Specially Designated Nationals list; however, it subsequently removed the service from this list earlier in the current year.
The U.S. Justice Department and other international law enforcement agencies have made claims that the Lazarus Group, a hacking entity allegedly backed by the North Korean government, has utilized Tornado Cash to launder illegally obtained funds. Lazarus has been linked by investigators to the Bybit breach, among other similar occurrences, and is known for employing decentralized exchanges and anonymizing applications to conceal the movement of stolen assets.
According to ZackXBT’s Telegram post, “certain characteristics are similar to past attacks attributed to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”
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He also noted that SBI Crypto has not yet issued a public statement regarding this incident.
Decrypt
attempted to contact SBI Crypto for comment but has not yet received a response.
SBI Crypto operates as a crypto mining pool under the ownership of SBI Group, a publicly listed investment management firm in Japan.
Last year, SBI VC Trade, the crypto-focused division of SBI Group, agreed to oversee customer assets and accounts of Bitcoin exchange DMM Bitcoin in response to a $308 million hack that impacted DMM Bitcoin.