Last year see a spectacular increase with the value of Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, with Bitcoin surging 60% in value in 2021 and Ethereum skyrocketing 80%. So perhaps it’s no surprise that North Korean Hackers those who feed that booming crypto economy have also had a very good year.
According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, North Korean hackers stole a total of $395 million in cryptocurrencies last year through seven hacks into crypto exchange and investment companies. The nine-figure sum represents an increase of nearly $100 million from last year’s theft by North Korean hacker groups, and it brings their total over the past five years to $1.5 billion alone. cryptocurrencies — not including the other hundreds of millions of dollars in the country that have been stolen from the traditional financial system. That hoard of stolen cryptocurrency now contributes significantly to the coffers of Kim Jong-un’s totalitarian regime as it seeks to fund itself — and weapons program—Despite the country’s heavily sanctioned, isolated, and ailing economy.
“They’ve been very successful,” said Erin Plante, senior director of investigations at Chainalysis. which the report calls 2021 the “banner year” for North Korean crypto thefts. The findings suggest that North Korea’s global mass robberies accelerated even amid the crackdown by law enforcement; The US Department of Justice, for example, prosecuted three North Koreans in absentia last February, which alleges they stole at least $121 million from crypto businesses along with a host of other financial crimes. Charges were also brought against a Canadian man who allegedly helped launder money. But those efforts have not stopped the rise of the crypto-asset. “We are pleased to see actions against North Korea from law enforcement agencies,” Plante said, “but the threat persists and is growing.”
The Chainalysis numbers, which are based on the exchange rate at the time the coins were stolen, do not just show an appreciation of the value of cryptocurrencies. The growth in stolen funds also tracks with the number of thefts last year; The seven breaches Chainalysis tracks in 2021 adds up to three in 2020, although fewer than the 10 successful attacks that North Korean hackers carried out in 2018, when they stole record amounts of money. $522 million.
For the first time since Chainalysis began tracking North Korean crypto thefts, Bitcoin no longer represents anywhere nearly the majority of the country’s wealth, representing only about 20% of the money. stolen. Instead, 58% of the pools’ crypto profits came in the form of stolen ether, the currency of the Ethereum network. Another 11%, around $40 million, came from stolen ERC-20 tokens, a form of crypto-asset used to create smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.
Chainalysis’s Plante claims to have increased focus on Ethereum-based cryptocurrencies — total thefts totaled $272 million last year versus $161 million in 2020 — with asset prices skyrocketing in the economy. Ethereum economy, combined with nascent companies has fueled growth. “Some of these exchanges and exchanges are newer and potentially more vulnerable to these kinds of intrusions,” she said. “They are trading a lot in ether and ERC-20 tokens and they are just easier goals”.
