South Korea's National Investigation Headquarters traced the 2019 theft of 342,000 Ethereum from Upbit to North Korean hacker groups, Lazarus and Andariel, linked to the country's Reconnaissance General Bureau. The stolen crypto's current value is around 1.47 trillion Won, making it one of North Korea’s largest cryptocurrency heists.

Technical forensics revealed North Korean linguistic traces alongside digital evidence, with support from the FBI in linking the heist to the North Korean regime. Following the hack, a substantial portion of Ethereum was converted to Bitcoin and laundered through various overseas exchanges.

North Korea's sophisticated cybercrimes are evolving, as evidenced by the increased use of phishing and supply chain attacks. Dubbed ‘Hidden Risk’, hackers deploy fake crypto news emails to spread malware, necessitating enhanced cybersecurity measures across platforms.

The successful identification of North Korea as the perpetrator marks a significant development, underlining the vulnerabilities in the crypto sector from both state-sponsored entities and insufficient regulatory compliance.

Amid these concerns, South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit highlighted over 600,000 KYC violations at Upbit, raising doubts over exchanges' ability to prevent illegal activities. Enhanced AML controls and stricter regulatory oversight are vital to safeguarding investors.

Additionally, Upbit is under a separate antitrust investigation by South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission, assessing potential market dominance abuses.