World's wealthiest democracies put DPRK-linked hackers on notice as cumulative crypto losses surpass $6.75 billion
The G7 just made North Korea’s hacking habit everyone’s problem. Leaders from the world’s seven largest advanced economies used their joint statement at the Evian summit to explicitly call out Pyongyang’s cryptocurrency theft operations.
“We reiterate the need to jointly address North Korea’s cryptocurrency thefts and cybercrimes,” the leaders stated on June 17, 2026.
The numbers behind the alarm
North Korean hackers stole $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency during 2025 alone. That figure represents a 51% jump from the prior year. Since 2017, cumulative losses tied to DPRK-linked cyber operations have exceeded $6.75 billion.
The crown jewel of that operation was the $1.5 billion theft from the Bybit exchange in February 2025. The FBI attributed that breach to a North Korean outfit called “TraderTraitor.” The bureau noted that stolen assets are rapidly converted into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Through April 2026, two attacks attributed to North Korea—targeting Drift Protocol and KelpDAO—resulted in $577 million in losses. That single figure accounts for 76% of all reported crypto hacking losses so far this year.
What the G7 is actually proposing
The G7 stopped short of naming specific sanctions targets or outlining enforcement protocols against particular entities. What they did signal is a commitment to three broad priorities: enhanced policy coordination among member nations, stronger enforcement of existing sanctions frameworks, and disruption of the laundering networks that help North Korea convert stolen crypto into usable funds.
Why this matters beyond the summit
The G7 statement explicitly connects DPRK cyber operations to the country’s nuclear and missile programs. This isn’t garden-variety cybercrime. It’s state-sponsored theft designed to finance weapons development, which reframes the entire conversation from a crypto security issue to a global security issue.
