A record-breaking cyber-hack last month puts Pyongyang’s bitcoin reserves behind only the US and Britain, offering Kim Jong-un a financial lifeline

North Korea has become the world’s third-largest holder of bitcoin after the governments of the United States and Britain, after the success of hackers stealing cryptocurrency in audacious online attacks.

According to data published by a cryptocurrency monitoring company, North Korea’s biggest and most successful cyber-hacking organisation, Lazarus, holds a total of 13,580 bitcoin, worth £886 million, after a record-breaking theft last month.

  • RowRowRowYourBot@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    112·
    11 hours ago

    Gosh, it’s almost as if there’s a massive red flag staked in the heart of the crypto sphere. I wonder if any will see it.

    • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
      6·
      10 hours ago

      BTC itself is secure. The exchange that NK stole from, Bybit, was insecure because North Korea somehow obtained the private key needed to open and take from the wallet used for transfers and they also knew when large transfers from a different permanent storage wallet were happening.

      So clearly it was an inside job.

      • RowRowRowYourBot@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        2·
        10 hours ago

        If NK wants to fuck with BTC valuations they just have to sell at an extreme loss. If they sold their haul at $.01 that would fuck the cryptosphere up.