A U.S. federal judge has ordered the forfeiture of virtual assets tied to a North Korean information technology (IT) worker money-laundering scheme, partially approving a Justice Department bid to seize nearly $8 million in cryptocurrency linked to Pyongyang’s overseas workforce.

Judge Rudolph Contreras of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Thursday that funds linked to a cryptocurrency wallet whose address begins with “0x81c4” should be forfeited to the U.S. government. 

Prosecutors said the wallet received about 158,123 USDC from at least 10 North Korean IT worker payment addresses and another 54,574 USDT from at least four