North Korean Hackers Suspected of Stealing Nearly $300 Million in Cryptocurrency in This Year's Largest Heist

(CNA General Foreign Dispatch, Seoul, 22nd) A victim stated that an infamous North Korean hacker group is highly likely the mastermind behind the theft of nearly $300 million in cryptocurrency last weekend, marking the largest known cryptocurrency heist this year.

According to an AFP report, based on statements from a United Nations panel of experts, this is the latest such incident linked to North Korea; the country utilizes sophisticated cybercrime schemes to steal cryptocurrency to fund its national nuclear weapons development.

The digital currency news website CoinDesk pointed out that the theft from the vault of the online investment tool KelpDAO on the 18th is the largest cryptocurrency attack of 2026 so far.

KelpDAO stated today that during the hacker attack, two blockchain servers hosted by another crypto technology application named LayerZero were compromised.

KelpDAO said that this resulted in a cryptocurrency token related to the major cryptocurrency Ethereum being "drained" from KelpDAO.

LayerZero released a statement saying: "On April 18, 2026, KelpDAO was attacked, losing approximately $290 million."

LayerZero stated: "Preliminary indications suggest that this incident is attributed to a highly sophisticated state-level actor, very likely the Lazarus Group of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (the official name of North Korea)."

A UN panel of experts estimated in 2024 that since 2017, North Korea has stolen over $3 billion in cryptocurrency. (Compiler: Li Pei-shan) 1150422