North Korea has acquired 1.7 trillion won in bitcoin, making it the third-largest holder globally. It utilized hacking methods to finance its bitcoin acquisition, raising concerns about potential market impacts due to the volume. However, some analysts believe the large global trading volume of bitcoin may absorb these impacts.
North Korea has amassed a significant bitcoin hoard valued at 1.7 trillion won, positioning it as the world’s third-largest bitcoin holder, following the United States and the United Kingdom. Reports indicate that North Korea’s cyber operations, particularly a hack of Vibit, resulted in the theft of over 2 trillion won in Ethereum in January.
Blockchain analysts from Arkham Intelligence revealed that the North Korean hacking group Lazarus possesses 13,562 bitcoins. Moreover, North Korea laundered $1.46 billion in Ethereum obtained from the Bybit hack through a service known as Tornado Cash, later converting the funds into bitcoin.
In comparison, the United States holds the most bitcoin at 198,109, followed by the U.K. with 61,245. Other notable holders include Bhutan (10,635 bitcoins) and El Salvador (6,117 bitcoins). North Korea’s hacking incident represents the largest single hack, accounting for over half of the total virtual asset hacks, which amounted to $2.2 billion last year, according to Chainalysis.
The U.S. government’s bitcoin largely comes from confiscations related to the Silk Road, a notorious dark web marketplace. Notably, the U.K. recently seized over 60,000 bitcoins from a money laundering operation run by a Chinese national.
The cyber breach facilitating North Korea’s bitcoin acquisition involved hackers gaining access to a developer’s computer associated with the security solution “Safe,” enabling manipulation of their bi-bit transaction screens. Analysts speculate that North Korea might soon liquidate some bitcoin holdings to fund weapons development, raising concerns among virtual asset investors about potential market repercussions due to the 1.7 trillion won worth at stake.
However, some experts posit that the daily global trading volume of bitcoin, which stood at $23.2 billion as of the report, might absorb any sudden influx from North Korea’s potential sales without significant impact. Kim Min-seung, head of the Covit Research Center, noted that prior large-scale sales, like the 53,679 bitcoins seized by Germany, did not precipitate market crashes.
North Korea’s accumulation of 1.7 trillion won in bitcoin marks it as a formidable player in the cryptocurrency space, ranking third globally. The methods of acquisition through hacking raise security concerns, especially regarding the impact of potential sales on the broader bitcoin market. However, analysts remain cautiously optimistic about the resilience of bitcoin against such large-scale sales, indicating that the market may weather this storm.
Original Source: www.mk.co.kr
