DPRK-linked hackers stole $2.06B in 2025; Senate ethics fight

A CertiK Skynet analysis found groups linked to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were responsible for about $2.06 billion of an estimated $3.4 billion in cryptocurrency losses from hacks in 2025.

The report attributed those losses to DPRK-linked actors across 79 of 656 documented incidents in 2025. The amount represents roughly 60% of the total value stolen that year while accounting for about 12% of incidents, CertiK reported.

CertiK said the pattern of attacks has shifted over time. Drawing on on-chain research by Taylor Monahan, the firm estimated DPRK-linked actors took about $6.75 billion in crypto between 2016 and early 2026 across 263 documented incidents. The report described fewer, higher-value strikes targeting large pools of capital, replacing earlier frequent small hot-wallet compromises.

The analysis also reported that proceeds from the thefts are being used to generate foreign currency for the DPRK and identified links to funding for the regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

In markets, Ether treasury firm Bitmine Immersion Technologies said it slowed the pace of Ether purchases after a recent run of large weekly buys. Bitmine reported acquiring 26,659 ETH in the most recent week, down from a prior pace of more than 100,000 tokens per week. The company said the reduction will not change its plan to hold 5% of Ether’s roughly 120.7 million circulating supply by the end of 2026.

Tom Lee, Bitmine’s chairman, said, “We have decided to slow down our pace of weekly accumulation from >100,000 per week as we originally targeted reaching the ‘alchemy of 5%’ target in late 2026.” He added that Ether’s price moves and its correlation with software stocks informed the decision to retain Ether as a diversification asset.

Separately, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to mark up the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, known as CLARITY, this week. The bill passed the House in July 2025 and must clear both the Senate Agriculture and Banking panels to reconcile rules covering securities and commodities.

Some Senate Democrats are withholding support over language governing ethics and conflicts of interest for lawmakers. Negotiations have also covered stablecoin yields and tokenized equities. “Negotiations continue to be positive, and I remain confident we can get a bipartisan bill over the finish line this Congress,” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said, adding that Americans deserve strong consumer protections and ethics reforms to prevent politicians from profiting on insider status.

Committee action this week will indicate whether negotiators resolve the outstanding technical and ethics issues. Market participants and regulators are watching how the bill assigns oversight and what rules it will set for stablecoins, tokenized assets and market conduct.