North Korean hackers suspected in $351M crypto theft, the largest so far this year

In Brief

North Korean hackers are suspected of stealing more than $351 million from the servers of cryptocurrency exchange Bitget during a cyberattack on Thursday.

The cyberattack is the latest in an ongoing spate of high-profile hacks targeting the crypto sector. It’s also the largest known heist of digital currency this year, eclipsing a $340 million hack in September that saw the hacker returning all but $47 million of the stolen funds.

In a series of posts on X on Thursday and Friday, Bitget said the breach involved the unauthorized transfer of crypto from its hot wallets, which are connected to the internet and designed to be used for active trading. Bitget has since suspended crypto withdrawals on its network. The company said it has $464 million in its user protection fund, which should cover the costs of the theft.

Bitget chief executive Gracy Chen said the breach and heist was “highly consistent with known patterns of North Korean hacker organizations.” Such collectives have been linked to crypto thefts and have been suspected of targeting open source software to mass-hack victims with the aim of funding the country’s nuclear weapons program.

According to blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, North Korea is behind around three-quarters of all crypto thefts during 2026 to date.

Chen did not say when Bitget’s withdrawals would open again.

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