[Watcher Guru] JUST IN: North Korean hackers have stolen $12,800,000,000 in crypto since 2...

North Korean hackers have stolen $12.8 billion in cryptocurrency since 2017, an amount equivalent to roughly 45% of the country's GDP, according to new data. The cumulative figure underscores how crypto theft has become a major revenue source for Pyongyang, with state-linked groups such as Lazarus Group repeatedly targeting exchanges, bridges and DeFi protocols. The disclosure comes as the industry continues to grapple with high-profile exploits, including the roughly $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February 2025, the largest crypto heist on record. The scale of losses has pushed exchanges and protocols to tighten custody, multisig controls and on-chain monitoring. Market participants will watch whether recovery efforts and international sanctions enforcement can curb future theft, and whether insurers and institutional allocators reprice security risk accordingly.