Addresses associated with the U.S.-sanctioned Lazarus Group from North Korea have transferred over $30 million using the decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, with their activities noted to have continued at least until August 30, according to Arkham analyst Emmett Gallic.
Addresses linked to OFAC Sanctioned Lazarus Group (North Korea) have been actively moving $30M+ through Hyperliquid (HyperUnit) as recent as yesterday. @zachxbt identified these addresses as Lazarus Group in 2024 linked to $61M in stolen funds https://t.co/RNJ4NMBrxA pic.twitter.com/CvivPLVnEL
— Emmett Gallic (@emmettgallic) August 31, 2026
Gallic noted that the funds were initially deposited into Hyperliquid via HyperUnit in Bitcoin before being converted into Ethereum and Solana. The assets were then transferred across the Tron, Solana, and Ethereum networks before being withdrawn to exchanges such as KuCoin, LBank, and Kraken, as well as several unidentified Tron services.
He referenced a 2024 investigation by on-chain detective ZachXBT, which linked these wallets to North Korean hackers. According to his findings, assets exceeding $61 million passed through these addresses.
Hyperliquid in Talks to Enter the U.S. Market
The activity of the North Korean-linked addresses comes as Hyperliquid prepares for a potential entry into the regulated U.S. market.
In August, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Michael Selig, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), is working on launching Hyperliquid in the country "in full compliance with the law." Following this announcement, the HYPE token saw a price increase of approximately 20%.
On August 31, Bloomberg reported that Hyperliquid Labs is in discussions with Kraken's parent company, Payward. The proposed arrangement would enable U.S.-registered clients to trade a portion of perpetual cryptocurrency futures linked to a perp-DEX through Bitnomial.
According to the agency, Payward has already presented the CFTC with the basic parameters of the proposed structure. The deal will require regulatory approval. Representatives from Payward and Hyperliquid Labs declined to comment.
In May, Payward completed its acquisition of Bitnomial. The platform holds a complete set of CFTC licenses for derivative trading in the U.S. as an exchange, broker, and clearing organization. This infrastructure allows the group to launch regulated margin and derivative products.
It is worth noting that in mid-August, the Hyperliquid Policy Center and trade[XYZ] suggested a mechanism for modernizing IPOs to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.