Jun 30, 2022 10:54:00

It is pointed out that the plunge in virtual currency will reduce the value of North Korea's holdings to less than half and affect the weapons development plan.

It has been pointed out that the plunge in the price of cryptocurrencies may have hit North Korea, which uses cryptocurrencies as one of its sources of funding. North Korea is believed to have stolen cryptocurrencies through multiple hacks, but it is estimated that the value of cryptocurrencies owned by North Korea has fallen to less than half in a year.

Crypto crash threatens North Korea's stolen funds as it ramps up weapons tests | Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/technology/crypto-crash-threatens-north-koreas-stolen-funds-it-ramps-up-weapons-tests-2022-06-28/

From May to June 2022, major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, drastically lowered prices due to various factors , causing great damage to investors. This effect has reached not only virtual currencies but also companies that have decided to trade commodities using virtual currencies, and these stock prices have temporarily declined, leaving a mark on the economy as a whole.

According to Chainalysis, an American blockchain analysis company, North Korea, which uses cryptocurrencies as one of its sources of funding, may have been affected as well. Chainalysis, which had been monitoring North Korea's unlaundered cryptocurrencies for some time, said that cryptocurrencies worth $ 170 million in early 2022 were 65 million in half a year. It reported that it had fallen to the dollar (about 8.9 billion yen).

North Korea has

accelerated cyber attacks in recent years and is carrying out the theft of virtual currencies one after another. Chainalysis analyzes that North Korea stole cryptocurrencies through a total of 49 hacks between 2017 and 2021, but all of them plummeted, some losing more than 80% in the past few weeks. Some are reported to be.

However, the threat of cyber attacks by North Korea remains large, and its impact is expected to continue to accelerate, with North Korea being recognized as the country that caused the most cryptocurrency-related crimes in 2022. In June 2022, it was also reported that North Korean hacker group 'Lazarus' abused a system called Horizon Bridge that facilitates the transfer of each token and stole nearly 100 million dollars (about 13.7 billion yen). I did . North Korea is reportedly denying that neither the plunge in cryptocurrency prices nor the hacking by Lazarus is true.

In addition, Reuters news agency said, 'Korean government sources have reported that the plunge in virtual currency may affect the weapons development plan,' and while the economic situation deteriorated significantly, North Korea's arms race and new He pointed out that investment activities in such cyber attacks may have lost momentum.