A report has revealed that North Korea holds the third-largest amount of Bitcoin in the world.
On Monday, News1 reported that cryptocurrency media outlet The Block reported that North Korea’s hacking group Lazarus possesses 13,518 Bitcoins.
This amounts to approximately $1.13 billion, making North Korea the third-largest Bitcoin holder globally, following the United States (198,109 Bitcoins) and the United Kingdom (61,245 Bitcoins). North Korea’s Bitcoin holdings also surpass El Salvador (6,118 Bitcoins), which officially recognized Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021.
The increase in North Korea’s Bitcoin holdings is believed to have occurred after the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit was hacked. Lazarus was identified as the group responsible for hacking $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum (ETH) from Bybit on February 21, and reports indicate that most of the stolen assets were converted into Bitcoin.
Lazarus has also been involved in other major cyberattacks, including a $300 million hack on Japan’s DMM Bitcoin exchange last year and a $600 million hack on the Ronin Network in 2022.
North Korea is suspected of laundering funds stolen by Lazarus from cryptocurrency firms and using the proceeds to finance nuclear weapons development.
