North Korea-linked cryptocurrency theft estimated at $7.4 billion this year

North Korea-linked hackers stole an estimated $7.4 billion in crypto through October 29, 2025, accounting for 85% of all global crypto hack losses this year, according to TRM Labs. The firm put cumulative North Korea-linked thefts since 2017 at $12.8 billion, with this year's tally through late October already the largest annual figure. TRM's classification methodology, including how it attributes incidents such as the Bitget attack, affects the totals, and the count is not yet a full-year confirmed figure. The concentration of losses matters because it ties a dominant share of industry security risk to a single state-linked actor. Watch for year-end revisions to the 2025 total and for how exchanges and protocols adjust custody and cross-chain security in response.