North Korean hackers have brought the country to the top three largest bitcoin holders.

North Korea has become the third-largest holder of bitcoins in the world after the USA and the UK, according to The Times newspaper. This was achieved through successful hacking attacks during which a significant amount of cryptocurrency was stolen.

The Lazarus Organization, which is the largest and most successful organization in North Korea, possesses 13,580 bitcoins. This amounts to 886 million pounds (1.15 billion dollars). This data was provided by a cryptocurrency monitoring company.

According to Arkham Intelligence, a company that uses artificial intelligence to determine the owners of anonymous cryptocurrencies, North Korea surpasses many countries in the number of bitcoins. However, the UK has more cryptocurrency, specifically 3.9 billion pounds (5 billion dollars), while the US government has 12.7 billion pounds (16.5 billion dollars). Both governments acquired their assets by confiscating criminals' money.

“Lazarus” is one of the most successful criminal organizations in the world, and the profits from their activities are a source of funding for the development of weapons of mass destruction and a lifeline for leader Kim Jong Un,” stated Arkham Intelligence.

Recently, the FBI confirmed that the Lazarus group stole more than 1.6 billion dollars in Ethereum cryptocurrency during an attack on the Bybit exchange.

The total amount of stolen funds exceeds North Korea's defense spending in 2023 (1.4 billion dollars). This theft has become the largest in history. Previously, the record belonged to Saddam Hussein, who stole 1 billion dollars from the Central Bank of Iraq before the 2003 war.

According to TRM Labs, groups connected to North Korea stole 35% of the 1.7 billion pounds that were stolen worldwide in 2024.

North Korean thieves carry out impressive heists, including stealing a significant sum of money from the central bank of Bangladesh.

Despite ordinary citizens of North Korea being denied access to the Internet, the Lazarus group continues to carry out complex attacks under the guise of external intelligence. The UN claims that 40% of the funding for North Korea's nuclear and missile programs comes from cybercrime.