Cryptocurrency stolen by North Korea falls in price by $400 million

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Experts from the Reuters news agency claim that stocks of cryptocurrencies stolen by state hackers in North Korea have fallen in price amid a market crash.

Circumstances may putthreat to funding North Korea's weapons programs. In particular, the creation of nuclear weapons. The North Korean regime has been linked to multiple cyberattacks aimed at stealing digital currencies.

According to two unnamed sources ingovernment of South Korea, due to extensive sanctions and the current situation in the cryptocurrency market, the DPRK's income from cryptocurrencies has been greatly depleted. Precise figures are hard to come by, but according to Chainalysis, North Korea-linked wallet stocks generated in 2020-21 have dropped from $170 million at the start of 2022 to $65 million.

US authorities tied spring hackEthereum sidechain Ronin Network, used mainly in the game Axie Infinity, with North Korean hackers from the Lazarus group. As a result of the hack, assets worth $625 million were stolen. However, these assets are now worth about a third of the original amount, about $230 million, according to Reuters experts.

Formerly US government departmentsexpressed concern that more IT professionals from North Korea are trying to get jobs in cryptocurrency companies, posing as developers from the United States.