North Korea pulled in over $200 million through cryptocurrency transactions last year, allowing the country to sidestep international sanctions against its nuclear weapons program, according to U.S. i
North Korea pulled in over $200 million through cryptocurrency transactions last year, allowing the country to sidestep international sanctions against its nuclear weapons program, according to U.S. intelligence assessments.
Priscilla Moriuchi, a former NSA officer, told Radio Free Asia that North Korea accumulated approximately 11,000 bitcoins. The regime obtained these coins through mining operations or hacking, Moriuchi said in an interview with Vox. "I would bet that these coins are being turned into something – currency or physical goods – that is supporting North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programme," she said.
The timing of these reports coincides with intensifying pressure on Pyongyang. In February, President Donald Trump announced what he called the largest-ever package of new sanctions on North Korea. The Trump administration wants to choke off financial flows to the country and push it toward the negotiating table.
North Korea has a track record with cyber theft funded through cryptocurrency. Authorities accuse North Korea of orchestrating the 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack, which infected more than 230,000 computers across more than 150 countries. Schools, hospitals, and businesses shut down from the attack. In December, U.S. officials attributed the strike to North Korea.
That same month, hackers associated with North Korea targeted YouBit, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange. They stole nearly $7 million worth of bitcoin, forcing the exchange into bankruptcy. A month earlier, in January, hackers struck the Japanese exchange Coincheck and took $530 million in NEM tokens.
North Korea denies orchestrating these attacks. The country has invested in cyberwarfare capacity. According to reports, Bureau 121, Pyongyang's state-run cyberwarfare unit, recruits top students into its ranks.
Cryptocurrency presents an appealing avenue for North Korea to circumvent sanctions. The market operates with minimal regulatory oversight, and converting digital coins to fiat currency remains straightforward. International authorities have called for coordinated action to tighten rules on crypto trading. Without enforcement, the technology allows sanctions-dodging regimes a way around the financial isolation designed to constrain them.
