"North Korean threat actors are estimated to have stolen more than $2 billion in cryptocurrency during the first nine months of 2025, blockchain analysis firm Elliptic says. This is an annual record for North Korean hackers, and the cumulative value of the cryptocurrency assets they have stolen to date has surpassed $6 billion. But Elliptic notes that difficulties in attributing other attacks to North Korea and numerous incidents that remain unreported suggest that the actual stolen amount may be even higher."
"The record-breaking amount stolen this year is largely fueled by the theft of $1.46 billion in crypto assets from the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit. According to Elliptic, North Korean hackers have been responsible for at least 33 other crypto heists this year. "The 2025 total already dwarfs previous years and is almost triple last year's tally, underscoring the growing scale of North Korea's dependence on cyber-enabled theft to fund its regime," the company notes."
"In December 2023, Recorded Future estimated that threat actors associated with the Pyongyang regime had stolen a total of over $3 billion in cryptocurrency, after siphoning more than $1.7 billion in 2022 in high-profile heists such as Ronin Network ($600 million), Nomad ($190 million), Harmony ($100 million), and others. In 2025, most of the attacks were conducted through social engineering, and not vulnerabilities in crypto infrastructure. The hackers mainly focused on cryptocurrency exchanges, although numerous high-net-worth individuals were also hit."
Blockchain analysis firm Elliptic estimates North Korean threat actors stole more than $2 billion in cryptocurrency during the first nine months of 2025, an annual record that pushes cumulative stolen assets past $6 billion. Attribution uses blockchain analytics, observed laundering patterns, and intelligence, but attribution challenges and unreported incidents likely mean higher actual losses. The 2025 total was driven largely by a $1.46 billion theft from exchange Bybit and at least 33 other heists. Most 2025 attacks relied on social engineering rather than crypto infrastructure exploits and targeted exchanges and high-net-worth individuals. Recorded Future had earlier estimated over $3 billion stolen through 2023, including $1.7 billion in 2022 from major heists such as Ronin, Nomad, and Harmony.
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