According to the UN, North Koreans were able to steal and launder more than $3.6 billion worth of cryptocurrency.
Over the past 7 years, North Korean hackers have been able to steal cryptocurrency worth about $3.6 billion, according to a confidential United Nations (UN) report accessed by Reuters. According to Reuters, citing the report, hackers from the DPRK allegedly stole these funds by carrying out cyberattacks on cryptocurrency companies over the past 7 years.
The UN report, which was presented to the UN Security Council on May 10, lists 97 alleged cyberattacks on cryptocurrency companies between 2017 and 2024. Among other things, it refers to a cyberattack on cryptocurrency exchange HTX in late 2023 in which $147.5 million was stolen.
After the theft, the funds were laundered through cryptocurrency tumbler* Tornado Cash. In 2022, it was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. The agency said that since its creation in 2019, the mixer has been used to launder cryptocurrency by various hackers, including from the Lazarus group, which may be backed by the DPRK. In 2023, the two co-founders of Tornado Cash were charged with facilitating over $1 billion in money laundering.
*Cryptocurrency tumbler is a service to hide and make it harder to track cryptocurrency transactions.
