G7 Calls for Joint Action Against North Korean Crypto Theft and Cybercrime

North Korea has long been accused of stealing digital assets to evade international sanctions and generate foreign currency. The Royal United Services Institute, a UK think tank known as RUSI, said Pyongyang is increasingly relying on established criminal networks and scam groups to process illicit proceeds, making the money trail harder to follow and raising sanctions-compliance risks for financial institutions worldwide.

North Korea stole at least $2.8 billion in cryptocurrency during 2024 and 2025, according to RUSI’s latest report. The assets were sold at a discount or blended with proceeds from scams before underground money brokers in Southeast Asia converted them into cash. RUSI said the laundering chain allows Pyongyang to turn stolen crypto into usable funds that can help finance its weapons programs.

North Korea’s central bank oversees currency issuance and state funds, while the Foreign Trade Bank handles foreign payments and currency transactions. The alleged ring included veterans of a military intelligence cyber-operations unit and IT specialists recruited from leading universities. Their suspected use of state-developed hacking expertise against two pillars of the country’s financial system marks an unusual insider breach and exposes vulnerabilities within an apparatus better known for conducting cyber theft abroad.

Daily NK reported on July 24 that North Korea’s security agency raided a Pyongyang safe house on the night of July 12, 2026, arresting alleged ringleaders and IT personnel. Investigators said the group diverted trade funds and foreign currency in small increments, sent them to overseas crypto wallets and used brokers in China to convert the assets into U.S. dollars and Chinese yuan. Authorities did not disclose the amount stolen or the number arrested, but reportedly seized computer equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

North Korea has long dispatched IT workers overseas to apply remotely for technology jobs using false identities, stolen data belonging to U.S. residents and “laptop farms,” then remit most of their salaries to Pyongyang. Such operations target blockchain and cryptocurrency companies and may also involve planting malware and stealing confidential information. The proceeds are alleged to fund North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

On March 12, 2026, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned six individuals and two entities, saying the network generated nearly $800 million for North Korea in 2024. A Vietnam-based operator converted about $2.5 million in cryptocurrency between mid-2023 and mid-2025. On April 15, the U.S. Justice Department separately announced that two accomplices had been sentenced to 92 and 108 months in prison for helping infiltrate more than 100 companies and generate over $5 million in revenue.

North Korea has long faced sweeping United Nations sanctions that restrict its legal exports and access to the financial system. It has consequently made cryptocurrency theft an important source of foreign currency to fund its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. SVRN Chief Operating Officer Dave Schwed said Pyongyang targets exchanges, wallets and DeFi platforms rather than treating cryptocurrency merely as a payment tool.

CoinDesk reported on April 12, 2026, that North Korean hackers had recently spent six months infiltrating Drift, using false identities and long-term relationship-building to gain critical access. In the February 21, 2025, attack on Bybit, they moved $1.5 billion in about 30 minutes. The incident underscored both the difficulty of reversing on-chain transactions and the extremely short window for blocking stolen funds.