Hackers working for the North Korean government have stolen more than $2 billion in crypto so far this year, according to blockchain analysis firm Elliptic.
On Tuesday, Elliptic published a blog post with this new estimate. The company says it’s “the largest total on record, and we’re still three months in.” and builds on more than 30 hacks this year.
The previous record was in 2022, when North Korea stole $1.35 billion. According to Elliptic, the total amount of stolen crypto since 2017 is at least $6 billion.
“The actual number may be even higher. Attributing cyber theft to North Korea is not an exact science,” reads the blog post.
“We are aware of many other thefts that share some of the characteristics of North Korea-related activity, but there is not enough evidence to definitively attribute them. Other thefts have gone unreported and remain unknown.”
The company said that North Korea’s main target remains crypto exchanges, but that the regime’s hackers have begun targeting “high-net-worth individuals” who own large amounts of crypto.
And it’s not just recent changes, the company said.
“The majority of hacks in 2025 will be carried out through social engineering attacks in which hackers deceive or manipulate individuals to access cryptocurrencies,” read the blog post. “This marks a shift from previous attacks, where technical flaws in crypto infrastructure were often exploited to steal funds. This shift highlights that weaknesses in the security of cryptocurrencies are increasingly human rather than technical.”
Elliptic’s estimates appear to be consistent with those of other organizations. Last year, the United Nations Security Council estimated that North Korean hackers stole $3 billion in cryptocurrencies between 2017 and 2023. Add in Elliptic’s estimated value of $2 billion this year and last year’s estimated value of $742.8 million, and the total approaches the $6 billion figure.
The governments of Japan, South Korea, and the United States have accused North Korean hackers of stealing more than $659 million in 2024.
The United Nations believes the regime led by Kim Jong Un is using stolen codes to fund its nuclear weapons program.
This year’s record was primarily driven by the massive theft of over $1.4 billion from Crypto Exchange Bybit. This is attributed to North Korea by the FBI and several blockchain monitoring companies and researchers.
Other victims of North Korean hackers in the crypto world over the years were the play-to-alien game Axie Infinity ($625 million in 2022), Crypto Startup Harmony ($100 in 2022), and Crypto Exchange Wazirx ($235 million in 2024).
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