North Korea’s record year of crypto theft lays bare a ‘modern-day pirate state’

North Korea’s record year of crypto theft lays bare a ‘modern-day pirate state’

North Korea’s cryptocurrency thieves started 2025 with a heist for the history books, stealing $1.46 billion in one swoop to kick-start another year in service to the regime. The record-breaking heist epitomized North Korea’s evolving approach to virtual crime: months of patient reconnaissance, sophisticated social engineering tactics and rapid laundering through a complex web of […]

Crypto Heists Hit $2.7 Billion Record in 2025 as North Korea Dominates Theft Surge

In 2025, cybercriminals plundered a record $2.7 billion in cryptocurrency, shattering previous benchmarks amid a surge in sophisticated nation-state operations, according to data from blockchain analytics firms Chainalysis and TRM Labs. This marked the third consecutive year of escalating thefts, with North Korean hackers alone responsible for over $2 billion of the haul, pushing their cumulative total to $6.75 billion. The landmark Bybit exchan…

North Korean Hackers Steal 2B Crypto

North Korean hacking groups have reached a new milestone in digital asset theft, accounting for 76% of all service-level compromises recorded this year. This represents a calculated move away from frequent, smaller heists in favor of catastrophic breaches targeting large-scale centralized platforms. While the total number of incidents decreased, the financial impact per attack grew substantially, highlighting the specialized nature of these stat…

North Korean Hackers Steal $3.4-B in Crypto This Year

Cyber attackers sponsored by North Korea have stolen more than $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency since January.