North Korea Is Creating Fake Meme Coins to Launder Millions From the $6.4B Binance Hack

North Korea’s Lazarus Group used six meme coins launched on the NEAR blockchain to launder a portion of the $6.4 billion stolen in the 2022 Binance hack, according to new analysis. The tokens, created with minimal liquidity and almost no genuine trading activity, served as vehicles for moving illicit funds across wallets while obscuring their origin. The scheme highlights how low-cost, low-profile meme coins on alternative chains can function as discreet laundering rails for large-scale crypto theft. It matters because the Binance hack remains one of the largest in crypto history, and the findings suggest investigators and exchanges should scrutinize thin-volume tokens, not just major assets, when tracing stolen funds. What to watch next is whether other NEAR-based or similarly obscure tokens are flagged in ongoing Lazarus tracing efforts, and whether exchanges tighten monitoring of low-liquidity meme coin pairs.