North Korea Among Top 3 Bitcoin Holders
Date: 2025-03-20 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: IN WORLD
North Korea has become the third largest country in the world in terms of the size of its state-owned Bitcoin reserves, behind only the United States and the United Kingdom. According to The New York Times, the hacker group Lazarus, which is linked to the DPRK government, controls 13,580 BTC, worth about £886 million (approximately $1.14 billion).
According to Arkham Intelligence, which uses artificial intelligence to analyze anonymous cryptocurrency assets, Pyongyang has significantly increased its reserves after a recent major hack. According to Wu Blockchain, the increase occurred after an attack on the Bybit crypto exchange, when stolen Ethereum assets were converted into Bitcoin.
Thus, North Korea has surpassed Bhutan (10,635 BTC) and El Salvador (6,117 BTC) in terms of Bitcoin volumes, second only to the United States (198,109 BTC) and the United Kingdom (61,245 BTC). At the same time, the European Central Bank has not yet shown interest in forming reserves based on cryptocurrencies, which was confirmed earlier in January by its President Christine Lagarde.
Unlike El Salvador, where Bitcoin was legalized as a means of payment, North Korea uses digital currency to circumvent economic sanctions. According to analysts, the active actions of hacker groups are related to the need to finance government programs.
It is worth noting that, unlike the DPRK, the US and UK governments have increased their Bitcoin reserves by confiscating assets belonging to criminal organizations.
