Bitget hack pushes North Korean crypto haul past US$1bil

A US$357mil (RM1.46bil) hack of crypto exchange Bitget on Sept 24 was likely carried out by North Korea-linked hackers, pushing the nation-state’s haul from digital-asset thefts above US$1bil (RM4.08bil) this year, according to analytics firm Elliptic Enterprises Ltd.

The Bitget exploit showed similarities to previous attacks attributed to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, including how the stolen crypto was moved and laundered, Elliptic said in a blog post on Sept 25. Some of the funds were also connected to addresses tied to earlier hacks, including the record-setting US$1.5bil (RM6.12bil) exploit of crypto exchange Bybit last year, Elliptic said.

"Early indications in the laundering patterns and noted onchain overlaps are suggestive that the group commonly tracked as ‘TraderTraitor’ as responsible for the Bitget exploit,” Elliptic said.

North Korea has emerged as one of the biggest sources of crypto theft over the past decade, with DPRK-linked hackers stealing billions of dollars in digital assets since 2017 and using the proceeds to generate revenue for the sanctions-hit regime, according to Elliptic. The analytics firm has tracked more than 50 security incidents linked to North Korea this year alone, amounting to around US$1.2bil (RM4.89bil) in stolen funds.