North Korea Steals $2,837,000,000 in Bitcoin and Crypto in 21 Months: Report

North Korea’s hackers stole $2.837 billion in Bitcoin and crypto assets from January of 2024 to September of this year, according to a new report from UN member states.

The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) attributes the thefts to state-sponsored groups like TraderTraitor and CryptoCore.

These actors, tied to North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, used spear-phishing, supply-chain attacks and malware to hit exchanges worldwide, using the funds to power banned weapons programs.

Major strikes included $308 million from Japan’s DMM Bitcoin in May via a fake job test, and $235 million from India’s WazirX in July through rigged smart contracts.

In 2024 alone, thieves grabbed $1.19 billion, which is 50% more than 2023.

And the pace exploded in 2025, with $1.65 billion stolen by September, led by a record $1.46 billion Bybit hack in February.

Hackers cashed out all Bybit funds to fiat by September via Chinese and Russian brokers.

The report urges global banks and platforms to freeze linked wallets and repatriate North Korean laborers.

Total thefts are still being identified and may exceed current estimates, while some incidents remain unconfirmed by UN member states and their investigative partners.

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