North Korea's Crypto Thefts Fund Its Nuclear Programme — SkimNews
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- TRM Labs attributed the $6.3bn (£4.7bn) Binance cryptocurrency theft to TraderTraitor, an elite North Korean unit also known as Lazarus Group, although the link may not yet be proven and the behavioural pattern matches earlier attacks.
- UN panel of experts, reporting to the Security Council in spring 2024, was reviewing 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks on cryptocurrency companies between 2017 and 2023, worth $3bn; it estimated the stolen cash generated half of North Korea’s foreign-currency income, while an unnamed country estimated that the stolen billions funded 40% of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction programmes.
- North Korea controls a stockpile of about 50 nuclear warheads and has supplied troops and weapons to help Russia in its war in Ukraine. The country is also extremely poor: the UN says 40% of the population is undernourished and nearly one in five children is stunted.
- FBI attributed the February 2025 $1.5bn theft from Bybit—then the world’s largest previous cryptocurrency hack—to TraderTraitor.
- Ciaran Martin argued that North Korea targeted crypto because traditional banks have more sophisticated defences: over the past decade there were more than 30 nine- or 10-figure crypto thefts, while the number of banks suffering a cyber-attack loss above $100m was zero or one.
- North Korean hackers attempted in 2019 to take control of cash machines linked to 56 UK financial institutions; British officials detected the operation, alerted the banks and suppressed it quietly without media coverage.
- Reconnaissance General Bureau oversees state hacker groups such as Lazarus, recruiting some of North Korea’s best university students while general-population internet access remains severely restricted.
Why it matters: North Korea’s leadership gains foreign currency for military programmes: the UN-linked panel valued suspected 2017-2023 crypto thefts at $3 billion and estimated they generated half of the regime’s foreign income. An unnamed country estimated the stolen billions funded 40% of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction programmes, while crypto firms suffered 30-plus nine- or 10-figure hacks over the decade.
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