# North Korea’s $30M crypto cashout gives legacy finance a weapon against DeFi’s US debut

https://mins.news/en/item/42194

- CryptoSlate, 2026-09-02 14:35 UTC
- Economy
- Original: https://cryptoslate.com/north-koreas-30m-crypto-cashout-just-handed-legacy-finance-its-best-weapon-to-kill-defis-us-debut/

> An Arkham analysis reviewed on Aug. 31 found that wallets linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group sold more than $30 million in Bitcoin through Hyperliquid over three weeks, converting the proceeds to ETH and SOL before transfers to Kraken, LBank and KuCoin. The finding gives force to earlier CME and ICE warnings about sanctions evasion and complicates Hyperliquid’s proposed US entry through Payward and Bitnomial. CME is separately challenging the regulatory framework for crypto perpetuals in court.

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- [North Korean hackers move tens of millions on Hyperliquid as Trump pushes to onshore crypto platform](https://mins.news/en/item/39313) — CoinDesk, 2026-08-31
- [Hyperliquid seeks US foothold through Kraken parent Payward in crypto perpetuals deal: Bloomberg](https://mins.news/en/item/39149) — The Block, 2026-08-31