Lazarus Group moves $30M Bitcoin through Hyperliquid as US regulators consider platform access

Blockchain analysis shows that addresses tied to North Korea’s state‑sponsored Lazarus Group sold over $30 million worth of Bitcoin on the decentralized perpetual‑trading platform Hyperliquid during a three‑week period. The proceeds were swapped for Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) and then transferred to centralized exchanges.

Transaction flow and exchange involvement

After converting Bitcoin to ETH and SOL, the funds were sent to Kraken, LBank and KuCoin. Each exchange says it employs compliance tools to monitor blockchain activity, but public records do not reveal the ultimate owners of the receiving accounts.

US sanctions context

The Treasury Department has sanctioned Lazarus Group for multiple crypto‑theft incidents, including the 2022 Ronin Network breach. Because Hyperliquid allows wallet‑only access without a traditional brokerage account, tracing sanctioned assets on the platform is more complex, though on‑chain data enables firms like Arkham to label the addresses.

Regulated access discussions

Payward, the parent company of Kraken, is in advanced talks with Hyperliquid Labs to offer a limited set of Hyperliquid perpetual contracts to US traders through Bitnomial, Payward’s CFTC‑registered derivatives business. The proposed structure would require regulatory approval and would route US customers through a registered broker rather than Hyperliquid’s permissionless interface.

Hyperliquid’s market scale

DefiLlama reports that Hyperliquid has processed about $5.19 trillion in cumulative perpetual trading volume, with recent 7‑day volume of $60.44 billion and 30‑day volume of $204.95 billion. Open interest stands near $13.3 billion, and cumulative liquidations exceed $32.6 billion.

Implications for compliance

Any US‑focused product would need robust sanctions screening, customer identification and account‑level controls. While wallet checks can flag known addresses, funds may pass through multiple assets or intermediaries before reaching a regulated venue.