Reports suggest that cryptocurrencies held by North Korea have lost around 60% of their value, so funding to nuclear programs would be notably compromised amid the crypto winter.
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- Crypto market an area or arena, online or offline, in which commercial dealings are conducted. crash would be affecting North Korea’s nuclear programs.
- Criptomonedas en poder del estado perdieron alrededor del 60% de su valor.
- North Korea denies links to exchange businesses that allow customers to trade cryptocurrencies for fiat money or other cryptocurrencies. attacks and hacks.
- Experts say North Korea circumvents blockades and sanctions with cryptocurrencies.
While the drop in the price of major cryptocurrencies worries many exchanges and crypto service operators, reports suggest that North Korea could be one of the nations feeling the brunt of the bear someone who believes that prices in a given market will decline over an extended period. Such a person might be referred to as “bearish.” market, especially as the country is reportedly associated with several high-caliber cryptocurrency cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that use cryptographic technologies to secure their operation. thefts to fund its nuclear programs.
Criptomonedas y Corea del Norte
The information in question is published by news agency Reuters, which references a series of reports associating North Korea with major attacks in the cryptocurrency space, most notably the theft of USD $552 million from network a network refers to all nodes in the operation of a blockchain at any given moment in time. bridge Ronin and hacks targeting reputable international exchanges.
Let’s keep in mind that the United Nations (UN) published a report in February indicating that North Korea’s nuclear and weapons programs were financed by cryptocurrencies, assets in which they found a possibility following blockades and economic sanctions by various organizations and countries, in addition to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to its local economy.
This thesis is defended and reinforced by several analysts, among them the member of the UN Security the term securities refers to a fungible and tradable financial instrument that carries a type of monetary value. Council Eric Pento-Voak, who said that cryptocurrencies and these crimes perpetrated against companies in the sector have been fundamental for North Korea to circumvent financial sanctions, which it has been doing for several years:
“[North Korea] is innovative when it comes to finding new sources of illicit income.”
However, official representatives and members of government entities deny that North Korea has been involved or has links to the attacks perpetrated against exchanges and crypto projects, branding such accusations as baseless accusations that seek to discredit the Asian nation.
Market downturn and nuclear programs
Regarding crypto funds belonging to North Korea, a report published by Chainalysis claims that the assets held by the country linked to hacks perpetrated between 2020 and 2021 suffered significant losses, going from about USD $170 million at the beginning of the year to about USD $65 million at the current exchange rate.
Regarding the funds derived from the hacking hacking is the process of using a computer to manipulate another computer or computer system in an unauthorized fashion. of the network Ronin, the USD $552 million stolen by the Lazarus group is now valued at about USD $230 million. This information was confirmed by the analysis team at TRM Labs, although he detailed that most of the ETH stolen were exchanged for BTC at the time, so it is difficult to estimate the actual margin of losses capitalized by the North Korean nation.
With regard to nuclear programmes, this drop in the country’s reserves could be a serious blow to sustaining the associated costs, especially because of the difficulties in procuring the relevant material, in addition to other major operating expenses.
Reuters comments:
“The sudden drop in the price of cryptocurrencies, which began in May amid a broader economic slowdown, complicates Pyongyang’s ability to profit from that and other holdups, and may affect how it plans to fund its weapons programs, two South Korean government sources said. The sources declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
It comes as North Korea tests a record number of missiles, which the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul estimates have cost as much as $620 million so far this year, and prepares to resume nuclear tests amid an economic crisis.”
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- U.S. Justice Department indicts two Europeans for advising North Korea on Blockchain a distributed ledger system. A sequence of blocks, or units of digital information, stored consecutively in a public database. The basis for cryptocurrencies. and cryptocurrencies
- U.S. government warns North Korean hackers are targeting crypto firms
Version by Angel Di Matteo / DiarioBitcoin
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