North Korea blamed for crypto heist

The FBI has attributed a $6.3 billion cryptocurrency heist to North Korea, marking the largest-ever theft in the industry. This incident casts a shadow over the aspirations of the crypto sector to become a mainstream asset. The heist follows a string of other high-profile crypto thefts linked to North Korea, which has been known to allocate state resources to support hackers, many of whom are based in China.

These cyber activities are fueled by North Korea's economic growth, which expanded by 3.7% in 2024, the fastest rate in eight years, leading to a construction boom that is even visible from space. AI is seen as a potential game-changer for North Korea's cyber capabilities, with an expert predicting that it could significantly enhance the country's hacking prowess.

Brief written by urgent.news from Semafor's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.