According to recent data, North Korea’s massive cryptocurrency hacking program shattered its own record in 2025 by stealing $2.02 billion for the second consecutive year.
North Korea shattered its own record of $1.3 billion in stolen and hacked cryptocurrency, including bitcoin and ethereum, according to a study released on Thursday by the blockchain surveillance firm Chainalysis. According to the study, this raises the total amount of stolen cryptocurrency in the nation to over $6.75 billion. Globally, the total amount of stolen cryptocurrency has increased to $3.4 billion.
This year’s theft of the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit in Dubai accounts for a large portion of that. According to the U.S. Secret Service, the hackers were part of North Korea’s elite government hacking team and stole around $1.5 billion in February, primarily in Ethereum, according to Bybit’s CEO.
Chainalysis is one of an increasing number of businesses that map out the vast network of crypto transactions, including tracking hacked money as it is laundered by criminals.
North Korea, which is subject to international sanctions and has few diplomatic ties, has long been accused by the UN and private researchers of using its hackers to steal cryptocurrencies in order to finance its missile and nuclear weapons programs.
According to Matt Pearl, head of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a national security think tank, “it’s very difficult to stop, because there’s an asymmetry where they’re generally so cut off from the world and such a rogue state.”
According to the investigation, a portion of the heist was most likely caused by North Korean hackers illegally acquiring remote technical employment with overseas corporations. That access might put them in a position to help their hacking buddies obtain cryptocurrency keys and wire them to Pyongyang.
There have been occasional reports of skilled hackers from other nations taking substantial sums of money. The Secret Service previously connected Chinese government hackers to an operation that stole US Covid relief funds, while the US and UK governments have accused certain financially motivated Russian cybercriminals of having links to the Kremlin.
However, no nation has an alleged program like North Korea’s, where hackers actively employed by the government regularly steal such substantial amounts from businesses worldwide.
North Korea has used some of the world’s most advanced international money laundering schemes, according to previously leaked papers.
Additionally, compared to regular money, cryptocurrency is typically far simpler to launder on a massive scale. Exchanges are a prime target for North Korea since they frequently keep it in large quantities.
Wallets, or accounts that can be accessed using private keys, are where cryptocurrencies are kept. If hackers take over an account, they may easily transfer the funds to another wallet they hold. Reversing a fraudulent transaction is difficult, in contrast to traditional finance.
Despite their institutional resources and expert security teams, the Chainalysis analysis discovered that many platforms remain susceptible due to a fundamental security problem.
Pearl stated that given North Korea’s existing severe sanctions, there is little to prevent it from continuing to hack digital assets to pay its military operations.
“Obviously, the traditional tools we have had have not worked,” Pearl said. “I think we’re going to continue to see this.”
