In March, North Korea laundered $147.5 million through cryptocurrency platform Tornado Cash, after stealing the sum the previous year from a cryptocurrency exchange platform, according to a confidential document from UN sanctions monitors seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
UN investigators briefed the UN Security Council sanctions committee on 97 cyberattacks carried out by North Korea against cryptocurrency businesses between 2017 and 2024, with a total value of around $3.6 billion. These attacks included a theft of $147.5 million from cryptocurrency exchange HTX, a sum later laundered in March this year, according to information from cryptocurrency analytics firm PeckShield and blockchain research firm Elliptic.
In 2024, UN investigators uncovered 11 cryptocurrency thefts valued at $54.7 million, many likely the work of DPRK hackers inadvertently hired by cryptocurrency-related companies. According to UN member states and private companies, these hackers generate "substantial income for the country".
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), officially under UN sanctions since 2006, has seen these measures stepped up in an attempt to cut off funding for its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes. In response to these activities, the US sanctioned Tornado Cash in 2022, accusing the platform of supporting North Korea. Two of Tornado Cash's co-founders were indicted in 2023 for facilitating more than $1 billion in money laundering, including for a cybercrime group linked to North Korea.
