North Korea stole billions in crypto in 2025, new research says

For the second year in a row, North Korea’s vast cryptocurrency hacking operation has broken its own record, stealing $2.02 billion in 2025, new research says.

A report published Thursday by the blockchain watchdog company Chainalysis found that North Korea broke its own record of $1.3 billion in hacked and stolen crypto like bitcoin and ethereum. That brings the country’s total stolen crypto to around $6.75 billion, the report said. The total amount of stolen crypto around the globe rose to $3.4 billion.

A significant chunk of that comes from the hack of the Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit this year. The hackers — who worked for North Korea’s elite government hacking squad, according to the U.S. Secret Service — stole around $1.5 billion, mostly in ethereum, in February, Bybit’s CEO said.

Read more at NBC News