North Korean Hackers Steal $2 Billion in Crypto 2025: Elliptic Report Reveals Bitcoin Ethereum Security Risks

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic reports North Korean hacking groups have stolen over $2 billion in cryptocurrency assets in 2025, marking the largest annual theft recorded with three months remaining. This unprecedented scale highlights Pyongyang's increasing reliance on cyber theft to fund nuclear and ballistic missile programs, according to UN and intelligence agencies. The 2025 total nearly triples last year's figures, driven primarily by February's $1.46 billion Bybit exchange hack - one of history's largest crypto thefts. Additional attributed attacks include LND.fi, WOO X, and Seedify, plus 30+ incidents targeting smaller exchanges and DeFi platforms. Elliptic notes a strategic shift toward social engineering attacks targeting high-net-worth individuals and executives, emphasizing that "the weak point in cryptocurrency security is now human, not technological." As crypto prices rebound, laundering operations have grown more sophisticated with cross-chain swaps between Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), BTTC and Tron using obscure protocols and self-issued tokens to evade detection.