Bitget Hack Adds $1 Billion+ to North Korean Crypto Heists

North Korean hackers are linked to a $387 million theft from Bitget, pushing the total stolen by DPRK-linked groups above $1 billion in 2026. Chainalysis attributed the hack to North Korean actors and said investigators followed stolen XRP through a cross-chain protocol into Bitcoin addresses controlled by the attackers.

The attack bypassed an exchange, but left blockchain records for investigators to examine. Bitget confirmed losses of approximately $387.5 million after revising its initial estimate.

Two April incidents involving Drift Protocol and KelpDAO also cost around $577 million. TRM described months of social engineering before attackers compromised the approval process at Drift Protocol, while LayerZero linked the operation to TraderTraitor, a North Korean threat group associated with Lazarus.

Chainalysis estimated that North Korean hackers stole more than $2 billion during 2025, and this latest attribution places another major exchange breach within that pattern. Bitget said its higher loss estimate included previously uncounted Zcash and Tron transfers.