PANews reported on December 19 that according to Techcrunch, the Chainalysis report released on Thursday showed that this year, the total value of stolen cryptocurrencies surged 21% to $2.2 billion, of which more than half was stolen by hacker groups associated with North Korea. In 2024, hackers associated with North Korea stole 61% of the total amount stolen that year in 47 cases, worth $1.34 billion; in 2023, they stole $660.5 million in 20 cases, and in 2022, they stole $400 million. This shows that they are increasingly involved in these attacks.
The report highlights that most cryptocurrency hacking incidents this year occurred between January and July, with the amount of money stolen exceeding $1.58 billion, about 84.4% higher than the same period in 2023. After July, the upward trend slowed significantly, which is very different from 2021 and 2022, which may be due to geopolitical issues. Chainalysis attributes the stagnation of hacking attacks after July to North Korea's alliance with Russia, which emerged after the June meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Since the June summit, the amount of crypto assets stolen by North Korea has fallen by 53.73%. As North Korea's cooperation with Russia has increased, North Korea may have changed its cybercrime tactics.
