By Alicia Maher
Various South Korean media houses report that their Northern neighbors have stolen $1.8b worth of digital currencies from their crypto exchanges. They further allege that North Korea stole the cryptos by hacking their exchanges and don’t plan to sell those assets as they seek capital gains on them.
The North Korea Crypto Stealing Accusation Isn’t New
Besides South Korea, other nations have also been accusing North Korea of the same allegation. A report from the US government claimed that it has evidence that North Korea partnered with financial fraudsters to hijack cryptocurrencies from four crypto exchanges and transfer the funds elsewhere. Their mode of operation is to send malicious emails to employees of these exchanges. Thus, they can access the exchanges’ backend tech and carry out their mission.
Slovenia and Indonesia are other nations that have accused North Korea of the same issue. South Korea local reports allege that North Korea uses these stolen digital assets to develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. They further claim that North Korea resorted to this means following a heavy sanction from the world’s leading economies. The abuse of these digital assets remains a source of worry to world leaders, partly explaining why they’re interested in regulating its use.
The Common Occurrence In The Crypto World
Even though stealing and hacking are common in the crypto space, it becomes more worrisome when a whole nation perpetrates such attacks. Likely, hackers won’t stop attacking crypto-related firms and projects as more investors (institutional and private) continue to inject cash into the industry. Sadly, many new DeFi projects have become the primary target of hackers because these projects are not yet audited.
Hence, it is no wonder that other unaudited projects are moving to get audited and partner with other Web 3.0 security expert firms to avoid losing user funds. The use of bug bounties has proven to be particularly effective in curbing fund losses. Bug bounties incentivize white hat hackers to test the websites of various projects to determine any loopholes in their website security.
Then, if they find any, they can report to the project team before the actual hijackers attack those projects. The bug bounties are usually in the form of large amounts of digital assets of the bug bounter’s choice or the project’s governance token.
Crypto Market Cap Down By $260B
The entire crypto market remains bearish as the price correction in the market enters its third day. Eth dipped towards $3.8K, while BTC dipped below $47K (a first in almost ten days). The crypto market cap went down by $120B in the past 24 hours and is now valued below $2.2 Tr (a 12-day low).
Last month, the crypto market cap surged to a new peak after hitting $3 tr. The decline in the market cap caused a sharp reduction in BTC’s dominance over the crypto market. The BTC dominance rate is now approximately 40%. Despite the current bearishness, long-term traders remain optimistic about BTC and ETH, saying they are fundamentally strong.
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