Crypto Market Crash Wipes Millions of Dollars From North Korea’s Kitty of Stolen Cryptocurrencies – Investigators looking into digital assets believe that North Korea’s stash of stolen cryptocurrency may have lost millions of dollars in value due to the most recent crash in the cryptocurrency market.
The country, which is said to rely on digital assets that have been stolen to support its programs, may be in danger as a result of the decline in value of the crypto assets.
The ability of North Korea to fund its weapons programs will probably be made more difficult by the negative market, claims a Reuters report that cites anonymous sources in the South Korean government. According to the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, which is based in Seoul, Pyongyang has spent up to $620 million on missile testing so far this year.
According to Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis firm, the value of the crypto assets that were allegedly stolen by North Korean-backed hackers has decreased from $105 million to $65 million since the beginning of the year. Chainalysis is reportedly keeping track of these crypto assets.
Nick Carlsen, a TRM Labs analyst and additional investigator, estimates that the value of one of the cryptocurrencies taken in the 2021 theft has fallen by between 80% and 85% just this year.
While global law enforcement organizations have maintained that North Korea is responsible for the cyber-criminal group Lazarus Group, which is charged with carrying out the Ronin breach, a North Korean diplomat posted at the country’s embassy in the United Kingdom has refuted the accusations. This, according to the unidentified official, is “totally fake news.”
Crypto Market Crash Wipes Millions of Dollars From North Korea’s Kitty of Stolen Cryptocurrencies – North Korea is thought to have turned to cryptocurrency hacking as international sanctions continue to make it difficult for it to obtain financing through international financial markets.
According to the report, North Korea mainly works with brokers that are eager to convert or purchase cryptocurrencies without asking any questions, thus it rarely receives the true market value for the stolen digital currency.
