North Korea's Own Hackers Caught Laundering Millions through Cryptocurrency

North Korea has been rocked by an extraordinary case of cyber hacking where former military hackers allegedly broke into two state banks and laundered hundreds of millions of dollars through cryptocurrency. The incident occurred on July 12, when National Intelligence Agency officers raided a safe house in the capital and caught the plotters at their computers.

The hackers, who were discharged personnel from a cyber unit of the Reconnaissance and Intelligence General Bureau, used Pyongyang's own cyber tools to siphon off funds without the knowledge of the state security apparatus. According to officials, the reason for the crime was personal gain rather than political or ideological beliefs.

The modus operandi was similar to how state-sponsored hackers usually launder cryptocurrency proceeds in China. The hackers' networks transferred foreign currency and state trading company funds in small batches from internal bank accounts to cryptocurrency wallets abroad. There, the digital assets were exchanged for Chinese yuan and US dollars through crypto-exchange brokers in China.

The significance of this incident lies in the fact that North Korea is typically on the opposite side in such schemes. According to TRM Labs data, state-sponsored hackers are behind 76% of all value stolen in crypto heists through April 2026, or roughly $577 million, most of it from just two operations.