North Korean hackers reportedly use stolen crypto to fund missile programme

North Korean cyber criminals have robbed cryptocurrency worth millions of dollars to finance North Korea’s missile programme.

According to a UN report, between 2020 and mid-2021 cyber-attackers stole more than US$50 million of digital assets.

Investigators have said such attacks are an “important revenue source” for Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programme.

The reported cyber-attacks targeted at least three cryptocurrency exchanges in North America, Europe and Asia.

The same report also said that the North Korean cyberattacks could have netted up to US$400 million worth of digital assets last year.

The UN report says that despite crippling sanctions, which have prevented North Korea from having nuclear weapons, the rogue state has been developing nuclear and ballistic missile infrastructure.

Recently, the US said that North Korea carried out nine missile tests last month alone.

Since then, the US announced that its North Korean representative would meet with Japanese and South Korean officials later this week to discuss the situation.

Altcoin News

NFT gaming token, Axie Infinity, has mounted an impressive fight back over the past few days after a three-month period which has seen the coin in steady decline.

Axie is valued at just above US$67 after being valued at US$47 just three days ago – a surge of over 40 percent.

The likely reason for the sudden steep rise is Axie Infinity’s announcement it would have a revamped reward structure for its player versus player competition round.

Axie Infinity is a blockchain-based game where players are required to collect and battle little digital creatures called Axies.

The game exploded in popularity last year where its value rose incredibly as users around the world took to the game to beat the pandemic woes.

Winners and Losers

Note: Growth from the 24 hours prior to 12:30pm AEDT

Source: Coinmarketcap.com, based on top 100 cryptos.

Image Source @ 2022 Kalkine Media®