TechFlow News, March 13: According to The Block, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned six individuals and two entities, accusing them of assisting North Korean IT workers in raising funds for North Korea’s weapons programs through cryptocurrency transactions—generating nearly $800 million in related revenue in 2024.
The sanctioned individuals are located in Vietnam, Laos, Spain, and elsewhere, and their primary methods include forging remote employment identities and laundering cryptocurrency. Notably, Vietnamese national Nguyen Quang Viet converted approximately $2.5 million into cryptocurrency between 2023 and 2025.
In addition, multiple Ethereum, TRON, and Bitcoin addresses have been added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List. Notably, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, North Korean hackers stole over $2.17 billion worth of cryptocurrency in the first half of 2025—of which a single attack against Bybit on February 21 stole nearly $1.5 billion worth of Ethereum, setting a new record high.
