On September 13, just a day after the attack took place, well-known analyst, ZachXBT, pointed to the North Korean Lazarus hacker cell as the culprits behind CoinEx’ exploit for $54 million.

ZachXBT further pointed to accidental wallet connection, following its attack on Stake.com, as the factor that allowed Lazarus to be identified. He went on to explicitly state Lazarus’ supposed address, in a bid for transparency on the matter.

The total stolen by the Lazarus group is now well into the billions of dollars and its name seems to appear in headlines with almost increasing regularity. Said appearances highlight the need for greater security measures in the blockchain industry, both at the individual and protocol levels, and has spurred South Korean authorities to seek hindrance of North Korean attempts to use illicit funds to pay for illegal weapons programs.