Key Takeaways
- North Korea now holds 13,518 BTC, surpassing Bhutan and El Salvador.
- Lazarus Group stole $1.4 billion from Bybit, converting funds into Bitcoin.
- The U.S. remains the largest Bitcoin holder with 198,109 BTC.
North Korea has become one of the largest nation-state holders of Bitcoin, surpassing both El Salvador and Bhutan, according to Arkham Intelligence.
Lazarus Group’s accumulation
Lazarus Group, the North Korean hacker collective, currently holds 13,518 BTC—valued at approximately $1.13 billion.
This puts the nation ahead of Bhutan, which owns 10,635 BTC, and El Salvador, which has accumulated 6,118 BTC since adopting Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021.
The Bybit exchange exploit
The increase in North Korea’s holdings follows its February 21 exploit of the Bybit exchange, in which Lazarus stole around $1.4 billion.
The group reportedly converted much of the stolen ether to Bitcoin using DeFi protocol THORChain.
History of cyber heists
Lazarus has a history of high-profile cyber heists, including a $308 million theft from Japan’s DMM Bitcoin in 2023 and a $615 million attack on the Ronin Network in 2022.
The group also holds an additional $30 million in various digital assets, including ether, BNB, DAI, and BUSD.
Comparison with other holders
Despite North Korea’s growing Bitcoin reserves, the U.S. remains the largest known holder, with 198,109 BTC, largely from assets seized in criminal and civil cases.
The U.K. follows with 61,245 BTC.
Ongoing global threat
A 2023 White House report stated that North Korea funds nearly half of its weapons and missile programs through cyber thefts, underscoring the ongoing global threat posed by state-sponsored hacking.
