The hackers from North Korea have widened the theft of cryptocurrency over the last five years, including the $200 million in crypto that has been stolen just this year, according to a TRM Labs report.

TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence firm, published the latest report on the cryptocurrencies stolen by cybercriminals of North Korea. According to that, North Korean Hackers have stolen over $2 billion in cryptocurrencies from over 30 attacks since 2018.

The total amount stolen in crypto hacking attacks has fallen down from the highest exploits recorded in 2022, but these attacks are still rising and have garnered over $200 million worth crypto in the first half of 2023.  

The stolen amount in North Korea is over 20% of all stolen crypto all around the world for this year. 

North Korean cyberattacks are predicted to be 10 times larger than attacks by other hackers as they have targeted the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, preying on cross-chain bridges that handle significant volumes of cryptocurrency transfers.

With three separate attacks, North Korean hackers stole over $800 million in 2022.  North Korea carried out the largest cryptocurrency hack in history, taking $625 million from Ronin Bridge in March 2022 using stolen private keys.

“North Korea’s early exploits – which tend to involve the direct use of cryptocurrency exchanges – now feature highly complex, multi-stage money laundering processes in response to more aggressive OFAC sanctions, law enforcement focus, and improved tracing capabilities,” noted TRM Labs.

Also Read: North Korean Hackers Swipe $180M in H1 2023 Crypto Heist