Advice on choosing cryptocurrency projects has already been heard the day before. We are talking about SEC chief Gary Gensler, who in late January touched on this topic in a conversation with the US Army.

According to him, if the profitability of a certain project seems too good to be true, it is likely to be a case of fraud. Gensler also recommended examining the merits of project developers, their interaction with regulators and the developers’ clear goals.

SEC chief Gary Gensler

In mid-January, Gary had a similar conversation – and there was no mention of cryptocurrencies either. However, the SEC representative was clearly not in the mood at the time. He said that supposedly most cryptocurrencies will eventually fall to zero, so investors should be as careful as possible.

Which cryptocurrencies are safe to buy?

During the discussion, the Avalanche founder noted the crucial role of “stamina” in the crypto industry and condemned people who “run from one project to another” or wedge themselves into “every new coin sale” in the hope of a price rise. According to Sirer, the desire for quick profits in crypto can only hurt the industry as a whole. Here’s the developer’s relevant rejoinder, cited by Cointelegraph.

I’ll tell you who’s to blame – it’s us.

Emin Gun Sirer during a discussion at the Building Blocks 23 event

That is, Sirer urges the community to support solid initiatives in the industry and avoid rogue projects with short lifespans. But how can they be distinguished? To do so, the expert recommends using the following formula.

So, look at the team behind any project, assess their sustainability. If a startup is headquartered outside the US, in some low-tax zone like the Bahamas, Cayman Islands and so on – its team is primed for short-term initiatives and disappearance. They have no margin of safety.


In this case, the Avalanche spokesperson is clearly alluding to Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX cryptocurrency exchange, which went bankrupt in November 2022. It was headquartered in the Bahamas, where the platform's founder spent several days in jail before being deported to the US.

However, this statement also means that essentially all local companies in the industry are fraudulent. Well that's hardly true.


The CEO of Ava Labs said that long-term crypto projects are likely to be headquartered in New York, “where all the assets are located”, and will be integrated with financial institutions. One should also pay attention to their relationship with regulators – if there are problems in this area, the startup may not be able to withstand long-term competition either.

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Apart from projects that are weak in terms of sustainability, the industry is also harmed by deliberate fraud. Worst of all, when they are backed by the support of an entire country – we’re talking, of course, about North Korea. The DPRK government has long been implicated in numerous hacking attacks on the crypto industry, as acknowledged by cryptocurrency researchers who track the movement of digital assets on the blockchain.

According to Cointelegraph sources, 2022 was a particularly successful year for North Korean hackers – they stole more crypto than in any previous year. The problem was highlighted in a recent UN report: United Nations experts found that North Korea received between $630 million and more than $1 billion in revenue from hacking attacks.

Arrest of cryptocurrency fraudsters

The UN report also noted that the cyber-attacks were more sophisticated than in previous years, making it harder than ever to trace the stolen funds. Here’s a rejoinder from the organisation’s experts.

North Korea has used increasingly sophisticated cyber technology both to gain access to digital networks involved in cyber financing and to steal information of potential value, including for its weapons programs.

Analysts at the platform Chainalysis have also shared their research on the topic – they estimate that the DPRK will steal at least $1.7 billion in crypto in 2022.

Chainalysis’ research is backed up by the following commentary.

For context, North Korea’s total exports in 2020 were $142 million, so it’s not unreasonable to say that cybercrime is a significant part of the country’s economy.

Earlier, LianAn analysts noted that hacks on platforms from decentralised finance brought in the equivalent of $3.64 billion to hackers in 2022. Moreover, it exceeds the corresponding figure for 2021 by as much as 47 percent, i.e., one and a half times.

Hacker “earnings” in 2022 by quarter from LianAn Technology

And here are more detailed statistics on the main areas affected by cyberattacks by North Korean hackers.

Distribution of cryptocurrency platforms hacked by North Korean hackers

As can be seen, the main “income” for hackers from this state in 2022 came from cryptocurrency mixers. These are special platforms that shuffle users’ digital assets and cover their tracks. The second most popular are decentralised exchanges created to exchange coins and tokens.

North Korea often denies accusations that it is responsible for cyberattacks. However, a new UN report alleges that the DPRK's General Intelligence Bureau is using several cyber attack expert groups like Kimsuky, Lazarus Group and Andariel directly to generate revenue by stealing other people's funds.

Cryptocurrency hacker


In the current environment, we believe it is quite easy to distinguish a decent crypto project from a fraudulent one. Right now, the cryptocurrency market is in a bearish trend, that is, an ongoing collapse. And if developers keep working on improving their own platforms, they are clearly here for the technology, not the money. So today, it is enough to examine the activities of each individual team and see if they have actually created something important in recent months. A positive answer will mean that the project is clearly worthy of attention.