PANews reported on December 19 that according to Techcrunch, the Chainalysis report released on Thursday showed that this year, the total value of stolen cryptocurrencies surged 21% to $2.2 billion, of which more than half was stolen by hacker groups associated with North Korea. In 2024, hackers associated with North Korea stole 61% of the total amount stolen that year in 47 cases, worth $1.34 billion; in 2023, they stole $660.5 million in 20 cases, and in 2022, they stole $400 million. This shows that they are increasingly involved in these attacks.
The report emphasizes that most cryptocurrency hacking incidents this year occurred from January to July, and the amount stolen has exceeded $1.58 billion, which is approximately 84.4% higher than the same period in 2023. After July, the upward trend slowed down significantly and was very different from 2021 and 2022, possibly due to geopolitical issues. Chainalysis attributed the lull in hacking numbers after July to North Korea's alliance with Russia, which emerged after a June meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Since the June summit, the amount of crypto assets stolen by North Korea has dropped by 53.73%. North Korea may have changed its cybercrime tactics as cooperation with Russia intensifies.