ZachXBT fronted $349,700 to get inside an alleged Lazarus laundering ring

Most blockchain investigators trace stolen money from a safe distance. ZachXBT decided to hand some of his own money to the people he was tracking. The pseudonymous investigator disclosed in an X thread on October 5, 2026, that he fronted $349,700 in USDC to build trust with a contact inside a Chinese organized crime syndicate. The group is believed to have laundered funds for North Korea’s Lazarus Group. ZachXBT links the operation to Tether freezing 442,000 USDT after he identified a wallet cluster he tied to the Bybit hack and valued at more than $12 million. How the operation worked The undercover effort began on March 6, 2025. That was roughly a week or two after the Bybit exchange hack in February 2025, which saw approximately $1.5 billion in funds stolen. ZachXBT’s point of contact went by the alias “Jimmy Green.” To earn that person’s confidence, the investigator sent the $349,700 in USDC up front. Jimmy Green reportedly provided specific Solana addresses, which helped ZachXBT follow funds as they hopped between blockchains. From that intelligence, ZachXBT identified a cluster of wallets holding more than $12 million in funds he connected to Bybit. Tether, the issuer of USD...