This 23-year-old US Treasury Department announcement is interesting, documenting how several OTC (over-the-counter) traders converted cryptocurrency from North Korean hackers into fiat currency. After stealing the cryptocurrency, the North Korean hackers would first scramble the source using on-chain mixers and decentralized exchanges. Then, they would hand over the cleaned cryptocurrency to an OTC trader, who would then sell it on major exchanges for fiat currency. Several such transactions occurred in 2021 alone, totaling millions of dollars. Subsequently, another OTC trader in Hong Kong was responsible for making payments, using shell companies to transfer funds to other companies. This allowed North Korea to bypass bank scrutiny and access the US financial system through seemingly legitimate company accounts. Ultimately, the resulting fiat currency supported the North Korean regime and its missile and nuclear weapons programs. In addition, among those sanctioned in the same batch was Shim Hyon-seop, a representative of North Korea's Kwangmyong Bank. He was wanted by the FBI and accused of using shell companies to defraud US banks of US dollars for more than a decade in exchange for facilitating trade settlements for North Korea.