CoinVoice has learned that Chainalysis released a report on Thursday showing that North Korea's cryptocurrency hacking operations stole $2.02 billion in 2025, breaking the record again. Previously, the highest record of cryptocurrency stolen by North Korea through hacking and theft (such as Bitcoin and Ethereum) was $1.3 billion. This brings the total amount of cryptocurrency stolen by North Korea to approximately $6.75 billion. The total amount of stolen cryptocurrency globally has risen to $3.4 billion. A significant portion of this comes from this year's attack on the Dubai cryptocurrency exchange Bybit. The CEO of Bybit stated that, according to the U.S. Secret Service, hackers working for North Korea's elite government hacking group stole about $1.5 billion in February, most of which was Ethereum. The United Nations and private researchers have long accused North Korea, which is under international sanctions and only maintains relations with a few countries, of deploying hackers to steal cryptocurrency to fund its nuclear weapons and missile programs. Chainalysis is one of the growing number of companies mapping cryptocurrency transaction networks, including tracking stolen funds being laundered by criminals. The Chainalysis report pointed out that, despite these platforms having institutional resources and professional security teams, they remain vulnerable to attacks due to this fundamental security challenge. Matt Pearl, director of the Strategic Technology Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, stated that it is difficult to stop North Korea's actions, as it is largely isolated from the world and is a 'rogue state.' The report states that some of the thefts are likely due to North Korean hackers increasingly obtaining remote technical positions in international companies through fraudulent means. This access can give them the opportunity to provide their hacking colleagues with keys to steal cryptocurrency and transfer cryptocurrency to footholds in Pyongyang. Pearl stated that, given North Korea is already facing extreme sanctions, there is almost no other way to stop it from continuing to fund military operations through attacks on digital assets. [Original link]
