North Korea's Lazarus hacker group stole over USD$1.4 billion from the Bybit exchange

According to Arkham data, Lazarus has propelled the nation's Bitcoin holdings above holdings controlled by Bhutan and El Salvador.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) reportedly surged into the upper echelons of sovereign bitcoin (BTC) coin minders when the Lazarus hacker group stole over USD$1.4 billion from the Bybit exchange.

According to Arkham data, Lazarus’s exploits have propelled the nation’s bitcoin holdings above those controlled by Bhutan and El Salvador. Now effectively controlled by Lazarus, the cryptocurrency stash amounts to 13,518 BTC, valued at approximately USD$1.1 billion at the time of writing.

North Korea’s bitcoin wealth surged after Lazarus attacked the Dubai-based crypto exchange Bybit in February. The exchange reported that hackers stole over 400,000 ether (ETH) from its safe multi-sig cold wallet.

Lazarus Group has amassed massive wealth through numerous cyberattacks and crypto exploits over the years. These include the 2024 DMM bitcoin exploit in Japan and the 2022 Ronin Network attack, where they stole USD$308 million and over USD$600 million in crypto, respectively.

Currently, the DPRK-tied organization holds more bitcoin than Bhutan’s 7,880 BTC trove, which the country reportedly accumulated through large-scale mining, and El Salvador’s 6,118 BTC, attributed to its status as the first nation to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.

Only four known sovereign bitcoin portfolios surpass North Korea’s holdings. U.S. authorities hold 198,109 BTC, China possesses 194,000 BTC, the United Kingdom controls 61,000 BTC, and Ukraine maintains a stash of 46,351 BTC.

Lazarus used decentralized finance protocols like THORChain to swap its portion of the stolen ETH for BTC.

THORChain has been subject to criticism from in-house developers and the crypto community for weak anti-criminal measures.

According to CNN, which cited a White House official, Lazarus’s proceeds and illicit wealth from other DPRK-funded syndicates fund nearly 50 per cent of North Korea’s nuclear missile program.