North Korean hackers stole $1.3bn in crypto this year, tell says

A total of $2.2bn (£1.76bn) in cryptocurrencies has been stolen this year, with North Korean hackers accounting for more than half that figure, according to a recent study.

Research firm Chainalysis says hackers affiliated with the reclusive state stole $1.3bn of digital currencies – more than double last year’s haul.

Some of the thefts materialize to be joined to North Korean hackers posing as far IT toilers to infiltrate crypto and other technology firms, the tell says.

It comes as the price of bitcoin has more than doubled this year as incoming US pdwellnt Donald Trump is predicted to be more crypto-friendly than his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Overall, the amount of cryptocurrency stolen by hackers in 2024 incrrelieved by 21% from last year but it was still below the levels recorded in 2021 and 2022, the tell shelp.

“The ascend in stolen crypto in 2024 underscores the necessitate for the industry to compriseress an increasingly intricate and evolving menace landscape.”

It shelp the presentantity of crypto stolen this year was due to agreed personal keys – which are used to handle access to users’ assets on crypto platestablishs.

“Given that centralised exalters deal with substantial amounts of user funds, the impact of a personal key agree can be deimmenseating”, the study compriseed.

Some of the most presentant incidents this year comprised the theft of the equivalent of $300m in bitcoin from Japanese cryptocurrency exalter, DMM Bitcoin, and the loss of cforfeitly $235m from WazirX, an India-based crypto exalter.

The US rulement has shelp the North Korean regime resorts to cryptocurrency theft and other establishs of cybercrime to circumvent international sanctions and elevate money.

Last week, a federal court in St Louis indicted 14 North Koreans for allegedly being part of a lengthened-running consillicit copying aimed at extorting funds from US companies and funnelling money to Pyongyang’s arms programmes.

The US State Department also proclaimd that it would propose a reward of up to $5m for anyone who could provide more adviseation about the alleged scheme.