North Korea has lost \u201cmillions of dollars\u201d stolen by hackers due to the downturn in the cryptocurrency market. This threatens funding for its weapons programmes, Reuters reports, citing sources.<\/p>\n
Two anonymous sources in the South Korean government said that the bear market amid a broader economic downturn has complicated Pyongyang’s ability to generate income from hacking. They said this could potentially affect financing of military developments and tests.<\/p>\n
Analysts noted that the value of Chainalysis-tracked unlaundered North Korea-linked cryptocurrency fell from $170 million to $65 million. This category includes funds stolen in 49 hacks from 2017 to 2021.<\/p>\n
TRM Labs analyst Nick Carlson estimates that one of the wallets linked to North Korea has lost 80% to 85% of its value in recent weeks. Experts do not disclose which digital assets Pyongyang holds, as that could reveal investigative methods.<\/p>\n
A staff member at North Korea’s embassy in London told Reuters that the accusations of attacks on cryptocurrency projects are “fake”.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Chainalysis estimated that in 2021 North Korean hackers carried out at least seven cyberattacks on crypto platforms, during which they stole digital assets worth about $400 million.<\/p>\n
According to the UN, North Korea funds the development of nuclear programs<\/a> through hacks of Bitcoin exchanges.<\/p>\n In April 2022, OFAC<\/span> added an address to the sanctions list<\/a>, presumably linked to the Lazarus hacker group. It was marked as linked to the Ronin sidechain attack, whose breach was the largest in DeFi history<\/a>.<\/p>\n Later, U.S. authorities stated the targeting of North Korean hackers<\/a> on the crypto and blockchain sector, including exchanges, DeFi protocols, venture funds, major holders of crypto assets and NFTs.<\/p>\n In May, the U.S. Treasury, State Department and FBI warned on North Korean IT specialists’ involvement in crypto project development<\/a>. According to authorities, the income they earn is directed to financing weapons programmes.<\/p>\n