- North Korea stole about $7 billion in crypto last year.
- Lazarus Group, which has connections to North Korea, was responsible for a cybercrime on the Horizon bridge blockchain.
- North Korea is indulging in crypto fraud as a method of coping.
North Korean hackers stole $7 billion from the cryptocurrency market last year, according to a recent tweet by Whalechart.
The stolen cryptocurrency is now worth far more than it did a year ago. It is estimated that by 2021 the total value of cryptocurrencies stolen by hackers in South Korea reached $429 million. From 2021 until now, the value of stolen cryptocurrency in the country has increased by a factor of four.
According to several knowledgeable sources, North Korea, which is now subject to some stringent sanctions, is currently indulging in crypto fraud as a method of coping. This is because the country’s government needs substantial capital to continue paying for current nuclear programs, which is one of the ways it maintains its military strength.
Currently, North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests, and this year the aAsia country is expected to conduct one more test for it nuclear test. The number of ballistic and other missiles launched by Pyongyang in 2017 was the most ever recorded. This is true even though the economy is in shambles.
In a report by the BBC, the FBI said in December that the Lazarus Group, which has connections to North Korea, was responsible for a cybercrime on the Horizon bridge blockchain network in 2022 that cost an estimated one hundred million dollars.
Based on research published by Chainalysis on Wednesday, “for reference, North Korea’s entire exports in 2020 were $142m worth of products, so it isn’t a leap to suggest that cryptocurrency hacking represents a large piece of the nation’s economy.”
