North Korea has significantly refined its cryptocurrency hacking operations, shifting towards fewer but far more profitable attacks that increasingly target high-value platforms.
A preview of Chainalysis’ upcoming Crypto Crime 2026 report reveals that Pyongyang-linked hackers stole a record $2.02 billion in digital assets during 2025.
The annual total represents a 51 percent increase compared with the previous year, highlighting the regime’s deepening reliance on cybercrime to fund state priorities.
Analysts said the latest surge brings the cumulative value of cryptocurrency stolen by North Korean actors to approximately $6.75 billion since tracking began.
Despite a notable decline in the overall number of confirmed attacks, the total value of losses rose sharply due to several exceptionally large breaches.
The year’s data highlight a shift toward fewer but larger thefts — with the biggest three hacks alone accounting for a majority of all service losses.
Chainalysis said.
North Korean groups were responsible for nearly three-quarters of major cryptocurrency service compromises recorded globally in 2025.