TechFlow, December 21 — According to Chainalysis monitoring, North Korea-linked hackers stole a record $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025, a 51% increase from 2024 and accounting for 76% of the total value stolen from global cryptocurrency services that year. Despite a significant decrease in the number of attacks, the profitability per attack has risen sharply, with the February breach of Bybit resulting in losses of $1.5 billion. Since records began, North Korea-linked actors have cumulatively stolen $6.75 billion.
In its "2026 Cryptocurrency Crime Report," Chainalysis noted that North Korean hackers have shifted their targets from decentralized finance protocols to core infrastructure such as centralized exchanges. Their money laundering patterns are characterized by high frequency and small amounts, with over 60% of funds being split through transfers under $500,000. Additionally, hackers gain system access through social engineering tactics such as impersonating recruiters or strategic partners. Experts urge the industry to adopt behavior-based detection tools to counter increasingly sophisticated state-sponsored cybercrime.
