WuBlockchain
North Korean hackers created at least six meme tokens on NEAR between November 5 and 7, according to Elliptic. Each token cost roughly $90 to launch, while about 117,000 NEAR, worth approximately $430,000, was routed through DEX liquidity pools.
Why it matters
The tokens give attackers a relatively cheap way to obscure the origin and movement of funds stolen in the $6.4 billion Binance hack. Elliptic previously identified the same technique being used with funds taken in the 2025 Bybit hack.
Market impact
The NEAR activity is small compared with the total value of the Binance theft, so it does not represent a full laundering operation on its own. It does show how public meme-token markets and decentralized liquidity pools can be used to complicate tracing, increasing the monitoring burden for exchanges, investigators and on-chain analytics firms.
Source: [North Korea is minting meme coins to launder the Binance hack — Elliptic](https://www.elliptic.co/insights/north-korea-meme-coins-binance-hack/#webpage)
Frequently asked questions
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How many meme tokens did the North Korean hackers create on NEAR?
The attackers created at least six meme tokens on NEAR between November 5 and 7.
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How much NEAR was routed through the DEX liquidity pools?
Approximately 117,000 NEAR, worth about $430,000, was routed through the pools.
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What was the cost of creating each NEAR meme token?
Each meme token cost around $90 to launch, making the technique relatively inexpensive.
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Why are the meme tokens important to investigators?
They can complicate tracing by routing stolen funds through public token markets and decentralized liquidity pools.
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Has North Korea used a similar laundering method before?
Yes. Elliptic previously identified the same technique in the laundering of funds stolen in the 2025 Bybit hack.
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