this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2025
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The hackers stole more cryptocurrency in one attack than all the funds stolen by North Korean cyber criminals in 2024, when the rogue state’s cyber attackers made off with around $1.3bn in digital coins, according to cryptocurrency analysts Chainalysis.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

The record haul comes as Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s supreme leader, turns to elite units of computer hackers to prop up the Communist dictatorship’s failing economy.

I'm no apologist for NK, but this sentence is glaringly missing a nod to Western sanctions that caused the failing economy. It's mentioned some paragraphs later, but I can't not notice the subtle propaganda.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 hours ago

Are you implying that we should be openly trading with NK and funding their government? Seriously?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 9 hours ago

Say what you want about North Korea but they're the only one ballsy enough to take care of our right-wingers.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 13 hours ago

Is this the cause of the dip?

[–] [email protected] 30 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Isn't it only worth 1.5 billion if you manage to sell it? How would you liquidate this much crypto?

[–] [email protected] 31 points 19 hours ago

Launder it and slowly sell it off through sock puppets.

They're a nation-state level actor, they have significant resources of their own and solid ties to both China and Russia, who are even more skilled and have even more resources.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

The article actually doesn't provide any proof it was North Korea. Why do they think it was North Korea?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 13 hours ago

Probably Israel leaving clues to make it look like DPRK

[–] [email protected] 16 points 19 hours ago

Did Kim steal Musk's jacket?

[–] [email protected] 78 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Crypto once again showing why it’s either just a casino with extra steps or a way to buy drugs rather than a serious solution for any currency or real world transactions.

It’s so amazing and digital and modern and easy to steal.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Wait till you learn about USD

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

Wait till you try to buy a coffee or pump your gas or pay rent with crypto. Go do your next transaction today with your crypto of choice I’m sure it’ll be very smooth.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

I'm not an assshole so I dont buy gas. But I have bought many a coffee and pizza and sushi with crypto. And I'm paying my rent now with crypto

What's your point?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (2 children)

You’re not an asshole for buying gas but ok.

Where are you where all these services take crypto and which coin? You do all this without ever converting to your local currency? These vendors take the coins directly?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

Some vendors take crypto. Most just take gift cards.

Eg airbnb

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

Used for food, rent, bills, buying houses and cars, buying appliances and various tech, paying contractors, paying instructors/trainers in every field online or in person, paying for trips to the other side of the world, easily exchange for foreign currency... Etc.?

That USD?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah, the one that's used to launder money, buy drugs, and gamble more than any other currency in the world

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Mostly because it's the main currency,, no?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

Guess you dont know much about money laundering

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Specifically too it's very easy to steal in bulk. Sure scamming grandma and grandpa out of their life savings has way fewer safeguards with crypto than with fiat currency, but it's absolutely still possible without crypto and happens all the time. This is the monetary equivalent of stealing nearly 16,000 kg of gold – something unthinkable with fiat currency.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 23 hours ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 14 hours ago

Holy moly. 3,000 kg of gold at today's price would be $281,382,000 (281 million dollars). Gold is $93,794 per kg at the moment.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

That’s fucking WILD, I have never read about that.

It is insane that you can do that kind of a thing just sitting in front of a laptop with Tails now, though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

Yeah, it’s pretty crazy

They made a TV mini-series about it a few years ago. It’s called The Gold. If you’re in the UK, it’s on BBC iPlayer. If not, then there may be other means of acquiring it!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago

I will absolutely check that out, thank you!

[–] [email protected] 14 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (5 children)

Are there crypto scams? yes, and plenty of them. Can you buy drugs with them? sure (and I thinks that's great!) Do either of the above statements get at the core issue here? not at all.

The issue here is not with the crypto itself. The issue here is the same issue that is regularly a problem anywhere software is deployed, digital security. The take away here is that many (all?) crypto exchanges are failing to properly secure their systems. Which is why the general rule that anybody investing in crypto should follow is never keep crypto in an exchange wallet unless you plan on trading it in the very short term. As an extension of that rule, you should never keep your crypto in a wallet that you don't hold the private keys for. If you don't have the private key for the wallet, it's not your wallet. Not your wallet, not your crypto.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 16 hours ago

The take away here is that many (all?) crypto exchanges are failing to properly secure their systems.

When your adversary is a nation-state with an actual army of hackers that can work 24/7 and deploy 0-days, it's hard to say for sure the exchange is at fault for not handling security properly. This isn't a lone Kevin Mitnick pulling a stunt, this is literal cyber warfare.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

I have never really understood exchanges tbh. Centralizing decentralized currency feels like getting the downsides of normal money/investments with fewer of the benefits.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 19 hours ago

Its because crypto doesn't work for 90% of things like people want to too so you have to use an exchange to make it faster.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

You know you could’ve asked what I already know instead of assuming it’s nothing and giving me the most basic 101 lecture all because I spoke ill of the almighty crypto. I mined for three years.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago

It wasn't meant as a lecture for you. I made no assumptions about what you know, just what you said. The lecture was for others coming by your comment because lots of people don't know the dangers of keeping crypto in exchange wallets.

Apologies if I offended you.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 17 hours ago

I don’t think that was an attack on your knowledge, but rather a disclaimer for other readers. I could be wrong, though!

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[–] [email protected] 79 points 1 day ago (1 children)

North Korea's GDP would technically be up 5% from this. Great success.

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Looks like hexbear will be funded after all

[–] [email protected] 5 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

You joke, but it looks like they actually did manage to regain their domain. Not sure how.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

Last I read, the admin who was a day late in paying Sav for the renewal was actually able to transfer the domain to a different registrar (PorkBun) before Sav's auction of the domain was complete. This maneuver was either something that Sav's auction designers hadn't anticipated, or the auction was compromised because the main bidder (j_s_) was a hexbear user who'd found a way to make unauthenticated bids.

At any rate, I don't think they paid thousands for it.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 19 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 19 hours ago

I heard they just a bunch of crypto they forgot about.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago (3 children)

First of all, I love that this is an AOL link. AOL is still around, eh?

Second, isn't crypto supposed to be trackable in the ledger? How are they hiding that much coin under a new name? That's the whole point of crypto.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Depends on the coin. Bitcoin is more trackable than cash. But privacy coins provide...privacy

[–] [email protected] 6 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Why would they need to hide it?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 16 hours ago

There are ways to clean crypto, by mixing it with other sources. See crypto mixers

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago

Oh I'm sure that'll settle things down. World peace can't be that far away!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Any technical juicy deets?

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (1 children)

Agents from Pyongyang were able to breach the systems of Dubai-based exchange Bybit to steal the digital coin Ether, according to security analysts.

*More

Hackers gained access to Bybit’s internal systems using so-called “phishing” email, which prompted an employee to input their login details to a seemingly legitimate website that was actually compromised.

The hackers were then able to gain access to a so-called “cold wallet” – a supposedly secure cryptocurrency storage device that holds coins offline and away from the internet. When Bybit came to transfer funds from the offline wallet to its online systems, the hackers sabotaged the transfer and stole the funds.

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