U.S. Government Reports North Korea Stole Over $659 Million In Cryptocurrency Last Year

The United States has claimed North Korea has stolen $659 million in cryptocurrency in the last year through various hacker networks.

In a joint statement, the United States, Japan, and South Korea revealed: “The lengths North Korean hackers will go to target the blockchain industry.”

The statement read that North Korea poses a“significant threat to the integrity and stability of the international financial system.”

The countries also reported North Korea conducted five crypto heists on exchanges in 2024, with the largest heist stemming from North Korean hackers stealing $308 million from DMM Bitcoin, a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange.

North Korea stole $659 million in crypto assets last year, the US says https://t.co/oiseHRlLQ7

— Engadget (@engadget) January 15, 2025

Per PC Mag:

The US is blaming North Korea for stealing at least $659 million in cryptocurrency last year and warning that the country’s hackers will inevitably strike again.

On Tuesday, the US State Department, South Korea, and Japan issued a rare joint statement highlighting the lengths North Korean hackers will go to target the blockchain industry.

The crypto heists from North Korea pose a “significant threat to the integrity and stability of the international financial system,” the statement warns.

The countries also say that North Korean hackers were behind at least five heists at cryptocurrency exchanges and financial platforms last year, resulting in the theft of $659 million. The largest occurred at DMM Bitcoin, a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, which reported losing $308 million to North Korean hackers in May.

The hackers pulled off the heist by pretending to be recruiters on LinkedIn. One of them tricked an employee at a Japanese cryptocurrency wallet software company into participating in a job test that actually installed malware on their computer. The malware then paved the way for the North Korean hackers to rig a cryptocurrency transaction request for a DMM Bitcoin employee, sending 4,502.9 in Bitcoin to the attacker’s wallets.

U.S. Accuses North Korea of Stealing $659 Million in Cryptocurrency in One Year https://t.co/iIlUJhJ0ht

— 24matins.uk (@24matins_uk) January 15, 2025

Per Tech Crunch:

North Korean-backed hackers stole at least $659 million through multiple cryptocurrency heists in 2024, while also deploying IT workers to infiltrate blockchain companies as insider threats, according to Japan, South Korea, and the United States in a rare joint statement (PDF) on Tuesday.

The announcement provided the first official confirmation that North Korea was behind July’s $235 million hack of WazirX, India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The July 2024 breach forced WazirX to suspend trading and later restructure the firm.

Other major attacks included a $308 million theft from Japan’s DMM Bitcoin, $50 million each from Upbit and Radiant Capital, and $16.13 million from Rain Management, according to the joint statement.

The statement says the Lazarus Group, a known threat group of North Korean hackers, conducted social engineering attacks and deployed cryptocurrency-stealing malware like TraderTraitor to breach exchanges, while also infiltrating companies by having North Korean IT workers pose as job candidates, according to the statement.

“The United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea advise private sector entities, particularly in blockchain and freelance work industries, to thoroughly review these advisories and announcements to better inform cyber threat mitigation measures and mitigate the risk of inadvertently hiring DPRK IT workers,” the governments said.

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