In the first half of 2025, hackers stole over $2.1 billion in cryptocurrency, marking a new record. A report from TRM Labs found that 70% of these losses were attributed to North Korean-sponsored hackers. This total surpasses the previous high from 2022 by 10%. North Korean groups were implicated in approximately $1.6 billion of the stolen crypto, with their operations serving as a tool for statecraft amid ongoing sanctions. A significant contributor to this total was a massive theft from the crypto exchange Bybit in February, where nearly $1.5 billion in Ethereum and related assets were compromised due to a breach linked to a developer's workstation. Authorities have long linked cybercrime from North Korea to funding its nuclear programs, indicating that these hacks are increasingly seen as strategic rather than simply financially motivated. The report highlights the shift towards infrastructure attacks, where hackers gain control over private keys and seed phrases, accounting for 80% of this year's losses.

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