TechFlow News, April 30: According to a report by blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs cited by The Block, North Korean hacker groups stole approximately $577 million in cryptocurrency assets during the first four months of 2026—accounting for 76% of global hacking-related losses over the same period. All these losses stemmed from two major incidents that occurred in April: the TraderTraitor group’s attack on KelpDAO, resulting in $292 million in losses, and another North Korean subgroup’s attack on Drift Protocol, causing $285 million in losses. Preparations for the latter attack began as early as March 11 and culminated in fund extraction completed within just 12 minutes.
The two incidents employed distinct money laundering pathways: stolen funds from Drift remain largely dormant on Ethereum, whereas stolen funds from KelpDAO were rapidly swapped into BTC via THORChain, with subsequent money laundering facilitated by Chinese intermediaries. TRM Labs noted that since 2017, North Korea has stolen over $6 billion in cryptocurrency assets, and its share of global losses has continued rising—from less than 10% in 2020 to 64% in 2025.
