North Korean hackers likely extorted two billion U.S. dollars worth of cryptocurrency this year, according to a think-tank.

According to a report by the U.S.-based blockchain data platform Chainalysis on Thursday, three-point-four billion dollars worth of cryptocurrency was stolen worldwide between January and early December 2025.

North Korean hackers siphoned off 59 percent of the total, amounting to two-point-02 billion dollars, a year-over-year increase of 51 percent. In total, it has stolen an estimated six-point-75 billion dollars to date.

The platform said North Korean attacks accounted for a record 76 percent of all crypto platform breaches and described the North as the most significant nation-state threat to cryptocurrency security.

The largest extortion by North Korean hackers this year was the massive Bybit hack in February, valued at one-point-five billion dollars, which was carried out by the hacking group Lazarus.