A joint report from cybersecurity firm Chainalysis and the U.S. Department of Treasury reveals that North Korean state-sponsored actors have significantly increased their crypto mining activity since late 2024. These operations, largely conducted in secrecy and often linked to stolen computing resources, are believed to generate millions of dollars annually in digital assets, bypassing the traditional financial system.
“Cryptocurrency has become a critical revenue stream for the regime,” said Anne Dalton, a senior Treasury official specializing in illicit finance. “North Korea is exploiting gaps in blockchain oversight to convert digital currency into usable assets while continuing to fund prohibited weapons development.”
The report details how North Korea uses compromised infrastructure in third-party countries to run large-scale mining farms, primarily focusing on privacy coins like Monero, which are harder to trace. In addition, the regime is suspected of leveraging a complex network of mixers, shell companies, and crypto exchanges — some operating on the dark web — to launder digital earnings.
North Korean hacking groups such as Lazarus and APT38, both previously sanctioned by the U.S., are named in the report as key players behind not only mining operations but also a string of high-profile cyber heists targeting global crypto platforms. Chainalysis estimates that North Korean-linked hackers stole more than $1.5 billion worth of crypto assets in the past 18 months alone.
Despite repeated international condemnation, Pyongyang has shown no signs of slowing its digital finance tactics. In fact, experts warn that as regulations tighten around conventional banking, North Korea is increasingly turning to decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms and peer-to-peer trading networks.
“This isn’t just cybercrime — it’s state-sponsored economic warfare,” said Michael Choi, a cybersecurity analyst based in Seoul. “North Korea has turned blockchain into a battlefield.”
U.S. and allied nations are now calling for tighter global crypto regulation and improved tracking of cross-border digital transactions. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recently urged member states to adopt stricter Know Your Customer (KYC) standards and enforce immediate reporting of suspicious activity involving privacy coins and mixing services.
Still, analysts acknowledge that enforcement remains difficult due to the decentralized nature of blockchain technology and the growing sophistication of North Korean cyber operators.
As traditional sanctions continue to choke off trade and financial flows, North Korea’s foray into crypto represents a new and evolving front in its long-running standoff with the international community — one where firewalls may be just as important as border fences.