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North Korean Hackers Tied to $290M Crypto Heist, Firm Says
LayerZero said preliminary indicators point to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, and it said there was no contagion to other cross-chain assets.
- On Saturday, April 18, 2026, the online investment tool KelpDAO suffered a hack resulting in the loss of approximately $290 million, marking the largest cryptocurrency exploit recorded so far this year.
- Two blockchain servers hosted by the crypto application LayerZero were compromised during the attack, enabling attackers to access cryptocurrency tokens linked to Ethereum.
- LayerZero stated that "preliminary indicators suggest attribution to a highly-sophisticated state actor, likely DPRK's Lazarus Group," while assuring users "there is zero contagion to any other cross-chain assets or applications."
- Henri Arslanian, co-founder of Nine Blocks Capital Management, warned the incident will deter new participants from the DeFi world, stating "this is clearly the job of North Korea's Lazarus group."
- A United Nations panel estimates North Korea has stolen more than $3 billion in cryptocurrency since 2017, with these illicit funds reportedly used to help finance the state's nuclear weapons development program.
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North Korean hackers are suspected of having subtilized on Saturday the equivalent of $290 million in cryptocurrency. This is the largest theft of digital assets in 2026. The LayerZero application assigns responsibility for the theft to the North Korean group Lazarus. - Cryptomcurrency: North Korean pirates suspected of the theft of the equivalent of $290 million (International).
"The early evidence suggests that this attack is the result of a highly sophisticated state actor, probably the North Korean group Lazarus," said KelpDAO, the victim of the theft.
·Paris, France
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Total News Sources17
Leaning Left1Leaning Right3Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Center
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources are Center
50% Center
13%
C 50%
R 37%
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