North Korean Hackers Celebrate a 'Fat Year': Record $2.02 Billion Stolen in 2025, Money Laundering Cycle Approximately 45 Days
North Korean hackers set a record in 2025, stealing $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency, a 51% increase from 2024, despite a decrease in the number of attacks. Their cumulative thefts now total at least $6.75 billion. They achieved this by conducting fewer but more sophisticated attacks, often through infiltrating crypto services with IT workers or using complex impersonation strategies against executives.
The overall crypto industry suffered over $3.4 billion in stolen funds. A key trend is the extreme concentration of losses, with the top three hacks accounting for 69% of the total. The disparity between the largest attack and the median hack reached a record 1000x.
North Korean actors exhibited distinct money laundering patterns, heavily favoring Chinese OTC services, cross-chain bridges, and mixers. Their laundering cycle for major heists is approximately 45 days, moving through stages of immediate layering, initial consolidation, and final cash-out.
Simultaneously, individual wallet thefts surged to 158,000 incidents affecting 80,000 users, though the total value stolen ($713 million) decreased. In a positive development, DeFi hacking losses remained low despite increased Total Value Locked (TVL), indicating improved security measures are having a significant impact. A case study of the Venus Protocol demonstrated effective real-time threat detection and fund recovery.
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