North Korean hackers execute largest crypto heist

Bitcoin has reached new highs. Trade, are you, are you sure? Not *** trade trade. I’m *** trading crypto. I’m laying out my plan to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet. You know, it’s, it’s impossible to forecast what’s going to happen next. Bitcoin has come *** long way since its start in 2009 as *** way to cut out the middleman in simple payment transactions. It’s increasingly become *** popular way to invest, and its value reflects that. In 2024, Bitcoin’s value shot up to over $100,000. This surge comes from the SEC approving the trade of spot Bitcoin and other exchange traded funds in 2024, which allows big Wall Street firms to offer crypto investment products. It also comes after the Trump campaign’s embrace of crypto. And he said, I’m going to um tell the SEC to green light all these crypto products, and we’re going to have *** national crypto reserve. This is sort of reinforced that crypto is going to be treated differently under the new administration. David Yermack is *** finance professor at NYU Stern School of Business, where he teaches *** course on cryptocurrency. So, if you’re curious about investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, here’s some important things to consider. Bitcoin is digital currency bought and sold directly without the use of *** third party like *** bank. To obtain Bitcoin, buyers can go through cryptocurrency exchanges, stock brokers, Bitcoin ATMs, exchange traded funds, money transfer apps, and wallet software. It can also be mined. What happens every 10 minutes is that people around the world gather together all the Bitcoin that have been transferred in that window of time, and then validate the transactions using the codes that are internal to the system. And you sort of have to solve *** puzzle by trial and error to mine *** block successfully. And whoever mines the block first, and this could be anybody in the world with *** computer, they get *** prize. Whoever mines the block first is rewarded in Bitcoin. In 2025, the prize is 3/10 of *** Bitcoin. After it’s mined, it’s permanently added to the blockchain, *** public digital record of all Bitcoin transactions. Once obtained, Bitcoin is then stored in *** digital wallet that’s made up of *** unique set of numbers and letters. The wallet can be online, on your computer, or on an external hard drive. Crypto is open to trading 24/7, 365 days, in contrast to America’s stock exchanges only open during business hours Monday through Friday. I think for investors, that’s very attractive. And while some see Bitcoin’s benefits, experts also heed caution. Crypto is. Very volatile. We’ve got, you know, at this 0.16 years of history, and I think there have been 5 or 6 times where Bitcoin dropped 80% in value in *** very short period of time. Although it’s called cryptocurrency, in many ways, Bitcoin is more like *** good than currency. Bitcoin’s value is determined by its supply and demand. The supply of Bitcoin is fixed. There will only ever be 21 million coins produced. It’s estimated that all the coins will be mined by 2140. When the supply is scarce, the price goes up, and vice versa. But with Bitcoin, it’s purely speculative value. And this may be unnerving to you, but I would point out that the US dollar has exactly the same foundation. Demand, on the other hand, goes up and down for *** variety of reasons, including global events. Take Brexit as an example. The day they voted to leave the European Union with Brexit, the British pound took *** huge hit, and Bitcoin went up. Why the rush to Bitcoin? There are *** lot of people who think Bitcoin is sort of *** safe haven, an alternative to gold, or an alternative to the dollar and the euro and the regular currencies. There’s no real evidence that this is actually true. The Ukraine invasion, can look at the elections of Trump, you know, all these things and You really haven’t seen the substitution out of the real world assets and into Bitcoin. The act of trading Bitcoin is also risky. There’s no way to get the money back once you’ve sent it. That’s the whole idea of *** decentralized network with no management and no leadership. You know, you can’t say free. My account, or here’s an injunction. Bitcoin users can also be prone to cyber scams and malware attacks that target people’s passwords that are also referred to as private keys. And in many ways, these are just recycling ideas that you already see in real life, you know, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and so forth. And just like you should be very careful before you send regular money to people. It’s the same with crypto. You shouldn’t. You know, take strangers’ words at face value. While wallets, service providers and applications are prone to being hacked, the network itself remains secure. The Bitcoin network has never been hacked in 16 years now. It’s, you know, widely regarded as the safest, most robust computer network ever. There are incredible security issues with the regular financial system that we all end up paying for through fees, and crypto has none of that. Bitcoin is still fairly uncharted territory in terms of regulation. While the SEC approved the trading of spot Bitcoin and ETFs, it’s historically been skeptical of crypto. And with Trump back into the Oval Office, he intends to have *** friendlier approach to crypto that could change the landscape. So with the pros and cons in mind, should you invest. Nobody should be investing in this who can’t afford to lose their investment. You should treat this like any other asset and an investor should be diversified and really try to own *** little bit of everything. Crypto has now grown big enough that it’s maybe 2% of all the investable wealth. The optimal rule for you is to put about 2% of your money into crypto. And if you’re taking any more risk than that, be prepared to lose your money, you know, because it can go down. You might do very well, but there’s, you know, no guarantee.

North Korean hackers steal record $1.5 billion in single crypto hack, security firm says

Updated: 8:03 PM EST Feb 24, 2025

North Korean hackers have stolen $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency in a single heist, making it the largest crypto hack on record, security experts told CNN.The hack hit Bybit, which describes itself as the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, with over 40 million users.In a matter of minutes on Friday, the hackers stole a significant portion of North Korea’s reported annual gross domestic product. And over the weekend, the hackers were already laundering about $160 million of the stolen loot through a series of accounts connected to North Korean operatives, according to crypto-tracing firm TRM Labs. In a single hack, the North Koreans have nearly doubled what they stole in crypto last year, the firm said.It’s an early test for how the Trump administration will address the steep challenge of trying to prevent North Korea from funding its nuclear and missile programs through hacking.“We’ve never seen anything on this scale before. The ability of these illicit financial networks to absorb such huge amounts of money so quickly is deeply concerning,” said Nick Carlsen, a former FBI intelligence analyst focused on North Korea who now works at TRM Labs.North Korea’s formidable hacking corps is an essential source of revenue for the nuclear-armed, sanctions-battered dictatorship, according to current and former U.S. and South Korean officials.North Korean hackers have stolen billions of dollars from banks and cryptocurrency firms in the last several years, according to reports from the United Nations and private firms. About half of North Korea’s missile program has been funded by such digital heists, a White House official said in 2023.Bybit CEO Ben Zhou has told users that the firm is solvent and can cover the loss of the $1.5 billion, the firm said in a statement. “Bybit worked closely with regulators and law enforcement agencies to address the hack,” the statement said.An FBI spokesperson said the bureau had no comment on the Bybit heist.CNN has requested comment from the North Korean embassy in London.Once a big crypto heist is carried out, North Korean operatives have to get the money back to Pyongyang. The laundering process usually involves a series of swaps through different types of digital currency, before eventually being converted to U.S. dollars or Chinese yuan.US and South Korean law enforcement agents monitoring the laundering process usually have mere minutes to pounce and seize some of the stolen loot. CNN previously reported on one such sting operation that clawed back $1 million out of $100 million the North Koreans had allegedly stolen from a California-based cryptocurrency firm.Investigators are currently trying to intercept some of the $1.5 billion stolen from Bybit. One group of crypto security experts said they helped recover about $43 million in stolen funds so far. Tom Robinson, co-founder of Elliptic, another crypto-tracing firm, said that an additional $243,000 of the stolen money had been seized: “A drop in the ocean, but a start.”Bybit said it would give 10% of any recovered funds to security experts who played a role in retrieving the stolen money.Carlsen, the former FBI analyst, said the U.S. and others need to be more aggressive in trying to intercept the North Koreans’ stolen crypto hauls.“The current strategy from governments and industry clearly isn’t working,” Carlsen said. “People should be going back through drawing board right now on how to deter and punish North Korea for these hacks.”

North Korean hackers have stolen $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency in a single heist, making it the largest crypto hack on record, security experts told CNN.

The hack hit Bybit, which describes itself as the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, with over 40 million users.

In a matter of minutes on Friday, the hackers stole a significant portion of North Korea’s reported annual gross domestic product. And over the weekend, the hackers were already laundering about $160 million of the stolen loot through a series of accounts connected to North Korean operatives, according to crypto-tracing firm TRM Labs. In a single hack, the North Koreans have nearly doubled what they stole in crypto last year, the firm said.

It’s an early test for how the Trump administration will address the steep challenge of trying to prevent North Korea from funding its nuclear and missile programs through hacking.

“We’ve never seen anything on this scale before. The ability of these illicit financial networks to absorb such huge amounts of money so quickly is deeply concerning,” said Nick Carlsen, a former FBI intelligence analyst focused on North Korea who now works at TRM Labs.

North Korea’s formidable hacking corps is an essential source of revenue for the nuclear-armed, sanctions-battered dictatorship, according to current and former U.S. and South Korean officials.

North Korean hackers have stolen billions of dollars from banks and cryptocurrency firms in the last several years, according to reports from the United Nations and private firms. About half of North Korea’s missile program has been funded by such digital heists, a White House official said in 2023.

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou has told users that the firm is solvent and can cover the loss of the $1.5 billion, the firm said in a statement. “Bybit worked closely with regulators and law enforcement agencies to address the hack,” the statement said.

An FBI spokesperson said the bureau had no comment on the Bybit heist.

CNN has requested comment from the North Korean embassy in London.

Once a big crypto heist is carried out, North Korean operatives have to get the money back to Pyongyang. The laundering process usually involves a series of swaps through different types of digital currency, before eventually being converted to U.S. dollars or Chinese yuan.

US and South Korean law enforcement agents monitoring the laundering process usually have mere minutes to pounce and seize some of the stolen loot. CNN previously reported on one such sting operation that clawed back $1 million out of $100 million the North Koreans had allegedly stolen from a California-based cryptocurrency firm.

Investigators are currently trying to intercept some of the $1.5 billion stolen from Bybit. One group of crypto security experts said they helped recover about $43 million in stolen funds so far. Tom Robinson, co-founder of Elliptic, another crypto-tracing firm, said that an additional $243,000 of the stolen money had been seized: “A drop in the ocean, but a start.”

Bybit said it would give 10% of any recovered funds to security experts who played a role in retrieving the stolen money.

Carlsen, the former FBI analyst, said the U.S. and others need to be more aggressive in trying to intercept the North Koreans’ stolen crypto hauls.

“The current strategy from governments and industry clearly isn’t working,” Carlsen said. “People should be going back through drawing board right now on how to deter and punish North Korea for these hacks.”