Северная Корея вновь атакует: хакеры украли $2 миллиарда в криптовалюте за первые месяцы 2025 года Translation: North Korea Strikes Again: Hackers Steal $2 Billion in Cryptocurrency in the First Months of 2025

North Korean hackers have stolen an unprecedented $2 billion in digital assets since the start of 2025, according to analysts at Elliptic.

The total known damage caused by the DPRK perpetrators has surpassed $6 billion.

A significant portion of these losses originated from the Bybit exchange. In 2025, attacks also targeted LND.fi, WOO X, and Seedify. Overall, Elliptic associates over 30 hacks this year with North Korea.

This current figure is nearly three times higher than that of the previous year. According to UN reports, these funds could be used to finance the country’s nuclear program.

Rather than exploiting technical vulnerabilities, the criminals employ social engineering tactics to deceive and manipulate individuals. Their targets are often not just exchanges, but also affluent private individuals, who are either attacked directly or targeted as a means to gain access to the assets of affiliated companies.

The laundering methods have also become more complex. The offenders now implement multiple mixing stages, use cross-chain transactions, obscure networks, and exploit refund addresses to redirect assets to new wallets.

Experts have noted that the transparency of blockchain technology allows for the tracking of illicit transactions. Analyzing transactions can help identify stolen funds and block them on exchanges, limiting the hackers’ opportunities to cash out.

To recall, in July, the crypto industry faced a loss of $142 million due to 17 hacking incidents.