North Korea Stole Over $600 Million in Crypto in 2023: Report

cryptonews.com:

North Korea was responsible for greater than $600 million worth of crypto being stolen in 2023, blockchain intelligence company TRM labs announced Friday.

According to TRM Labs’ latest report, the analytics data firm suggests that the total could be closer to $700 million following a number of unconfirmed hacks committed in the final days of 2023 thought to be committed by North Korea.

TRM Labs’ data follows a year that saw the U.S. government enact a number of sanctions against several of North Korea’s state-sponsored crypto-related malware initiatives, including crypto mixer Sinbad and hacking collective Lazarus Group, both of which sharing the goal of obtaining virtual currency to support the authoritarian regime’s military expansion.

“The DPRK’s use of illicit facilitation networks to access the international financial system and generate revenue using virtual currency for the regime’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs directly threatens international security,” said Brian E. Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, following sanctions last year. “The United States and our partners are committed to safeguarding the international financial system and preventing its use in the DPRK’s destabilizing activities, especially in light of the DPRK’s three launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) this year alone.”

TRM labs claims an estimated $3 billion worth of crypto has been stolen by Pyongong-based actors since 2017. 

Moreover, the data analytics firm found crypto-related hacks backed by the government of North Korea to be at least ten times more damaging than their counterparts.

Since “the DPRK’s money laundering methods constantly