The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has accused North Korea of orchestrating a $1.5 billion cryptocurrency theft from the exchange Bybit last week, marking the largest crypto heist on record.
According to the FBI, the notorious hacking group TraderTraitor, also known as the Lazarus Group, was responsible for the attack. The stolen assets were rapidly converted into Bitcoin and other digital currencies, dispersed across thousands of blockchain addresses.
The heist surpasses the previous record of $1 billion stolen by Saddam Hussein from Iraq’s central bank in 2003, underscoring North Korea’s increasing sophistication in cybercrime. The FBI warned that the stolen funds would likely be laundered and converted into fiat currency.