Elliptic Traces $430K Through Six Homemade NEAR Memecoins
What happened: Elliptic reported that North Korea-linked launderers moved approximately 117,000 NEAR, worth about $430,000, through six custom memecoins created between November 5 and November 7.
What happened: Elliptic reported that North Korea-linked launderers moved approximately 117,000 NEAR, worth about $430,000, through six custom memecoins created between November 5 and November 7. The tokens were paired with NEAR in decentralized exchange liquidity pools, with trading conducted between wallets controlled by the operators; outside buyers represented less than 1% of volume for one token, and trading ceased on November 8. Elliptic linked the funds to the reported October 29 Binance theft of approximately $6.3 billion.
Why it matters: The $430,000 tracked through these tokens represents a small portion of the reported theft, so this finding documents a laundering technique rather than the disposition of the entire stolen balance. The less-than-1% outside participation figure illustrates how activity in a token can largely reflect coordinated wallet behavior instead of independent demand, although that observation applies specifically to the token analyzed. Elliptic's reconstruction also shows that creating tokens and moving funds through liquidity pools can complicate the transaction trail without necessarily preventing investigators from following it.
The low reported deployment cost—approximately 25 NEAR, or about $90, per memecoin—helps explain the tactic's practicality. For readers assessing unfamiliar tokens, the relevant analytical distinction is between visible trading volume and evidence of independent participation. This case provides a concrete example of why those measures should be examined separately.