Story perspectives

North Korean Hackers Swipe $2 B Crypto, Fuel Weapons Development

5/15/2026

Summary

Story summary

North Korea-linked hacking groups stole over $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025, a 51% year-on-year increase.
PRESSURE CHOLLIMA contributed $1.46 billion of the loss via a trojan-infected supply-chain compromise.
CrowdStrike reported attacks fell as hackers shifted to high-value Web3 projects and urged exchanges and DeFi platforms to use advanced threat detection, regular audits, multi-signature and cold-storage controls.
Stolen crypto funds help finance North Korea’s regime, bypass sanctions and support weapons development.

1 of 1

Story summary

North Korea-linked hacking groups stole over $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025, a 51% year-on-year increase.
PRESSURE CHOLLIMA contributed $1.46 billion of the loss via a trojan-infected supply-chain compromise.
CrowdStrike reported attacks fell as hackers shifted to high-value Web3 projects and urged exchanges and DeFi platforms to use advanced threat detection, regular audits, multi-signature and cold-storage controls.
Stolen crypto funds help finance North Korea’s regime, bypass sanctions and support weapons development.