"Report": North Korea Uses Cryptocurrencies to Evade Sanctions

SadaNews - An international sanctions monitoring team has reported that North Korea conducts its arms and raw materials sales using cryptocurrencies to evade United Nations sanctions. Additionally, it has deployed a large number of IT staff abroad to facilitate money laundering.

Under the leadership of Kim Jong-un, North Korea has intensified its cyber hacking operations aimed at obtaining foreign currency in the face of harsh sanctions imposed due to its nuclear and missile programs.

The multi-party sanctions monitoring team "MSMT" found that North Korea’s advanced cyber arm managed to hack at least $1.65 billion from January to September 2025, including $1.4 billion acquired from the cryptocurrency exchange "Bybit" in February.

The report added that Pyongyang is channeling this money to develop "its own illegal programs related to weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles."

It pointed out that North Korean officials used the cryptocurrency "stablecoin" in transactions related to selling military equipment and raw materials such as copper.

North Korea also evaded United Nations sanctions by sending IT personnel to at least eight countries, including China, Russia, Laos, Cambodia, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Nigeria, and Tanzania.

According to United Nations sanctions, North Koreans are prohibited from working and earning money abroad.

In recent years, North Korea has received crucial support from Russia, after sending thousands of North Korean soldiers to fight against Ukraine.

The team also referenced a report from 2024 by the "38 North" program run by the Stimson Center indicating that North Korean tech staff concealed their nationalities and obtained contracts to work on films and animated series managed by companies like "Amazon" and "HBO Max."

The report stated that North Korean animation experts also worked for the "SIK" studio owned by Pyongyang, which had previously aided Western projects such as the 2007 film "The Simpsons Movie."

The multi-party sanctions monitoring team, established last October, is tasked with monitoring and reporting violations of the United Nations Security Council sanctions imposed on North Korea, even though it operates independently of the United Nations.

The team includes Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK, and the United States.