File this one under the category of “non-traditional’ revenue streams.
North Korea is active in the crypto world, but not like El Salvador or other countries. No, the rogue nation has so far hacked/stolen $1.7 billion worth of crypto, and the government has a strategy for what they’ll do with the loot; they are holding it as a long-term investment rather than selling it now for quick cash.
According to reports, the US feds investigating this issued a statement saying that North Korean hackers have been “conspiring with other money-laundering criminals” to “steal crypto-assets from at least three digital asset exchanges” before “laundering the proceeds.”
Stealing the crypto is just part of the challenge. North Korea is finding it harder to liquidate it. According to reports, they will typically try to move the stolen coins to different wallets. For instance, they will change from Etherum to bitcoin. This is called the “peel chain” tactic. It moves the money fast through automated transactions from one bitcoin wallet to a different address through thousands of transactions.
It all sounds complicated, doesn’t it?
Say this about North Korea; they don’t apologize for what they do. After they monetize the tokens, they want to use the funds to put in a tourist attraction. They also plan to build a new general hospital in the capital city of Pyongyang.
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