Crypto Country: North Korea’s Targeting of Cryptocurrency

Recorded Future’s Insikt Group reports that North Korean state-supported cyber actors have shifted focus to the cryptocurrency industry since 2017, stealing an estimated $3 billion in crypto (including $1.7 billion in 2022). The report details targets (exchanges, individuals, VCs), laundering methods and identity-fraud techniques, ties proceeds to regime revenue and weapons programs, and warns that attacks are large-scale, sophisticated, and likely to continue without stronger regulation and cyber defenses.