❓ How Did North Korean Hackers Steal $2B in Crypto THIS Year? 🚨 Biggest DPRK Crypto Heist on Record – Chainalysis Report
⚡️ Modus Operandi — How the DPRK Pulls It Off? 😈 Target huge centralized exchanges, not individual users
🧠 Use AI to automate attack + laundering workflows
🌉 Move funds across bridges + mixers early
💱 Convert assets in multiple hops
🧩 Break stolen funds into <$500K tranches to avoid detection
🤝 Leverage Chinese-language guarantees + OTC brokers
🏦 Skip DeFi lending + P2P – stick to trusted facilitators
💣 The Scale of the Threat
💰 $2B stolen in 2025 alone – a record 📈 +51% YoY despite fewer hacks
🌐 ~$6.75B lifetime total stolen by DPRK
⚠️ 76% of all service-level breaches linked to North Korea
🏴☠️ March’s $1.4B Bybit hack was the tipping point
🕵️♂️ Laundering Strategy Timeline (~45 days) ⏱️ A repeat pattern intelligence teams can track:
🕳️ Day 0–3 → immediate obfuscation & chain-hopping
♻️ Day 4–30 → structured laundering + small tranche movements
🏁 Day 31–45 → integration + off-ramping
📉 Meanwhile… personal theft trends shift 👛 158,000 wallet compromises (+ huge surge) 💸 But only $713M taken (-52%) 📉 Attackers targeting more victims, but stealing less each
🌍 Why It Matters?
🔐 We’re entering a polarized threat era:
🫴 mass low-value retail thefts
💥 rare catastrophic institutional breaches (DPRK specialty)
❓ Questions to the Community:
🔥 Can compliance + intelligence teams close North Korea’s laundering window before AI makes it unstoppable?
🤔 What tools will win? Chain surveillance, zero-knowledge proofs, Travel Rule automation, or onchain AI agents? #CYBER
