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North Korea has pulled off the biggest crypto heist in history—an impressive feat for a country that is poor, isolated, and sanctioned from nearly all global financial systems. The notorious Lazarus hackers collective has been terrorizing the crypto world for years. But how did Kim Jong-un’s regime become one of the most feared cybercriminal organizations on the planet? And is there any way to stop them?
Hackers as North Korea’s Economic Lifeline
On February 21, 2025, the Bybit crypto exchange suffered a catastrophic hack, losing a jaw-dropping $1.5 billion in Ethereum—the largest crypto theft ever recorded. Suspicion quickly fell on the Lazarus Group, a connection that was later confirmed by experts and the FBI.
According to Chainalysis, North Korean hackers were responsible for 60% of all stolen cryptocurrencies worldwide in 2024, amounting to $1.34 billion.
To put this in perspective, their 2023 haul was ‘only’ $660 million. And with the Bybit hack factored in, 2025 has already set a new record at $1.5 billion—and the year is just getting started.
For Pyongyang’s regime, these digital assets are critical for survival. They help North Korea:
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Evade international sanctions
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Finance its elite’s luxury lifestyle
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Fund weapons and military programs
The United Nations reported that by 2023, cyber theft accounted for half of North Korea’s foreign income. In 2024, stolen crypto earnings surpassed North Korea’s official exports to China. Strangely enough, the country doesn’t immediately sell off its stolen assets. Instead, it appears to be building a secret Bitcoin reserve—a move that could have massive geopolitical consequences.
Decades in the Making: North Korea’s Rise as a Cyber Power
North Korea’s cyberwarfare ambitions didn’t start overnight. The foundations were laid back in the 1980s, when the regime began heavily investing in IT education. By the time of the Gulf War in the 1990s, Pyongyang realized that cyber warfare was the future of conflict.
Instead of prioritizing farmers and factory workers, North Korea recruited its brightest minds into elite hacking units. The results were staggering: in 2019, a North Korean team defeated universities like Harvard and Stanford in an international programming competition.
The selection process for cyber personnel is ruthlessly efficient. With no private sector or corporate competition, the best IT talent is funneled directly into state service. North Korea’s cyber warriors aren’t motivated by money—they have no choice but to serve the regime.
Brutal, Precise, and Highly Effective
While most nations hesitate to launch cyberattacks due to diplomatic risks, North Korea couldn’t care less. Operating outside the international legal system, Pyongyang has no fear of retaliation. This means their hacks are louder, more aggressive, and terrifyingly effective.
North Korean cyberattacks usually follow a consistent pattern:
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Phishing & Social Engineering – Hackers gain access to crypto exchanges by tricking employees.
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Advanced Money Laundering – Stolen funds are rapidly moved through mixers and chain-hopping (jumping between multiple blockchains) to erase digital footprints.
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Bitcoin Conversion – Once laundered, the crypto is converted into Bitcoin—the preferred digital asset of Pyongyang’s regime.
According to Tom Robinson, co-founder of blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, North Korean hackers are “the most sophisticated crypto launderers we have ever seen.”
A portion of these laundered Bitcoins are sold on Asian exchanges for Chinese Yuan, but an increasing amount appears to be held by North Korea itself. This raises alarming questions: Is North Korea planning to use Bitcoin as a hedge against sanctions? Could it become an underground financial powerhouse?
The World’s Cyber Defenses Are Falling Apart
Despite growing efforts by crypto exchanges and law enforcement to track and freeze stolen funds, North Korean hackers remain one step ahead.
When sanctions hit major crypto mixers, they simply switched to newer, more obscure methods to cover their tracks. As governments tried to strengthen cybersecurity laws, Pyongyang increased its cyber army from 6,800 members in 2022 to 8,400 in 2024.
Meanwhile, international cooperation is crumbling:
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In 2024, Russia blocked a UN monitoring group from investigating North Korea’s cyber crimes.
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Budget cuts in the US weakened global cybersecurity capabilities.
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AI technology has made phishing scams more realistic and harder to detect.
For North Korea, what happened to Bybit was just another Tuesday. Crypto has become a lifeline for the regime—and an increasingly dangerous threat to the rest of the world.
Stopping them? That’s easier said than done.
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