At the June G7 summit, member states may discuss North Korea’s role in the largest cryptocurrency hacks of the past decade. Bloomberg sources report that the topic is on the summit’s agenda, though a final decision has not yet been made.
Cryptocurrencies as a Way to Evade Sanctions
North Korea has long used cybercrime to finance its economy. According to Chainalysis, hackers linked to Pyongyang carried out 47 attacks on cryptocurrency companies in 2023, stealing $1.34 billion. The year before, losses totaled $661 million. In 2024, the damage already exceeds $6.6 billion. A single hack on the Bybit exchange earlier this year resulted in a theft of $1.5 billion.
U.S. experts report that hacker groups under the control of North Korea’s Ministry of Defense use these funds to support weapons of mass destruction programs and circumvent international sanctions.
Fake Resumes and Impersonated Developers
In addition to direct attacks, North Korea actively embeds its operatives into the crypto industry. In January, the U.S. Department of Justice reported that thousands of North Korean IT specialists are working abroad under false identities, including in China and Russia. These workers pose as freelancers and send their earnings back to Pyongyang. One individual can earn up to $300,000 per year, with the total amount transferred reaching hundreds of millions of dollars.
Crypto exchange Kraken recently uncovered such a scheme: a North Korean hacker applied for an engineering position using several fake identities.
The situation is further complicated by political alliances: North Korea has officially confirmed that its military is participating in combat on Russia’s side in the border region of Kursk near Ukraine. This has heightened concerns that stolen crypto funds could be used to support military operations.
Earlier in January, South Korea, the U.S., and Japan announced plans to strengthen cooperation to counter North Korean cyber threats. At the time, they condemned attacks on exchanges such as DMM Bitcoin, Upbit, Rain Management, WazirX, and Radiant Capital.
Summit Agenda and Growing Global Concerns
It is expected that discussions on cybercrime will complement the main agenda of the summit — the war in Ukraine, escalating tensions in the Middle East, and economic disputes between the U.S. and other G7 nations. However, experts note that the scale and systematic nature of North Korean crypto attacks are making this topic increasingly important amid growing global security threats.
Read Also:
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- Bybit Hack Hits OKX: Exchange Shuts Down DEX Aggregator and Enacts Limits
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