North Korea stole $2 billion in crypto in 2025, Chainalysis says

North Korea-linked hackers stole a record $2 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025, a 51% increase over 2024, bringing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea's (DPRK) total haul to $6.75 billion, according to a Chainalysis report. This record was driven by fewer, but dramatically larger attacks on centralized services, highlighted by the $1.4 billion hack of Bybit in March. DPRK actors accounted for 76% of all service-level compromises in 2025. Their laundering methods are sophisticated, favoring smaller tranches under $500,000 and relying heavily on Chinese-language guarantee services, brokers, and mixing services, while largely avoiding DeFi protocols. Chainalysis suggests the consistency and scale of their laundering, which often follows a 45-day window, indicates the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In contrast, personal wallet compromises accounted for a smaller portion of total value stolen this year.

(Source：CoinDesk)