North Korea Stole $760M in Crypto in H1 2026 — Two Attacks Drove 76% of Global Hack Losses

In the first half of 2026, North Korean-linked hacking groups stole roughly $760 million in cryptocurrency — a sum that represents two-thirds of all global crypto hack losses during that period. The findings come from blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, which published two reports tracking the theft: an April 30 analysis of losses through the first four months, and a July 1 update covering the full half-year ^CMCC.

The scale of the theft has moved diplomatic response from the financial-crime desk to the national-security council. At the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France in June 2026, leaders formally reclassified North Korea’s crypto hacking operation as a weapons-of-mass-destruction financing program ^EN.

TRM Labs Report: The Numbers

TRM Labs’ April 30 report found that North Korean hackers stole approximately $577 million in cryptocurrency between January and April 2026 — a figure that accounted for 76% of all global crypto hack losses in that period ^TMD.

A follow-up report released July 1 covering the full first half of 2026 found that the total had grown to roughly 1 trillion Korean won (about $760 million), representing approximately two-thirds (67%) of global virtual currency hacking damages ^CC. The slight drop in percentage share is because other regions’ hack activity increased in May and June, but North Korea still dominated.

Two Attacks, One Dominance

Perhaps the most striking finding: the $577 million stolen through April came from just two major attacks ^TM:

• KelpDAO — approximately $292 million stolen ^TM
• Drift Protocol — approximately $285 million stolen ^TM

TRM Labs identified two distinct North Korean hacker groups as responsible for these attacks, illustrating that Pyongyang’s cyber operations are not a single unit but a coordinated ecosystem of specialized teams ^T.

A Steady Climb

North Korea’s share of global crypto hack losses has grown consistently in recent years: 22% in 2022, 37% in 2023, 39% in 2024, 64% in 2025, and now 76% in early 2026 ^WML. Cumulatively, TRM Labs estimates that North Korean-linked actors have stolen more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency since 2017 ^TW, while G7 sources place the cumulative figure at approximately $6.75 billion through mid-2026 ^ENB.

G7 Response: From Financial Crime to Nuclear Threat

The G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, held in June 2026, marked a turning point in how the international community treats North Korea’s crypto theft ^CMM.

Key Outcomes

• Reclassification: The G7 joint communiqué explicitly linked cryptocurrency theft to North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and nuclear programs, stating that stolen funds directly finance Pyongyang’s illicit missile and nuclear development ^EN. The statement labeled the activity a “global security threat” ^MN.
• Coordinated Response: Leaders called for joint action across all seven member nations, including stronger blockchain surveillance, expanded sanctions, enforcement cooperation, and pressure on mixing services that help launder stolen assets ^MMCN.
• Geopolitical Framing: The G7 placed North Korean crypto theft alongside traditional security threats such as nuclear proliferation and Indo-Pacific stability ^NC.

What the G7 Statement Says

The Évian statement rests on three concrete pillars, according to reporting from the summit: policy coordination across member governments, tighter screening of cryptocurrency exchanges and DeFi platforms, and expanded sanctions against entities that facilitate North Korean cybercrime ^NB.

What This Means for Crypto Platforms

The G7 elevation signals that DeFi platforms, exchanges, and blockchain infrastructure face increasing regulatory scrutiny. Governments may tighten requirements for:

• Know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering (AML) compliance on decentralized platforms
• Monitoring of cross-chain bridges and mixing services
• Reporting obligations for large or suspicious transactions

The THM Labs report and the G7 response together make clear that North Korea’s crypto theft is no longer a niche cybersecurity issue — it is now a first-order geopolitical and regulatory concern with direct implications for how the crypto industry operates globally.

Caveat: North Korea has denied allegations that it sponsors cryptocurrency theft ^CE. While TRM Labs attributes the hacks to North Korean-linked groups based on blockchain analysis, on-chain attribution carries inherent uncertainty, and Pyongyang officially rejects the claims.