North Korea Rejects U.S. Attribution of $1.5 Billion Bybit Theft

North Korea’s government rejected the U.S. attribution of the Feb. 21, 2025, Bybit theft, which was valued at about $1.5 billion. In a statement denying involvement in a separate Binance theft, it accused the United States of portraying cybercrime around the world as North Korean activity and called the Bybit attribution a serious political provocation.

The statement also referred to a U.S. announcement last year to confiscate illegally stolen crypto assets for a national strategic reserve. It asked who would receive large stolen funds if they were recovered.

The FBI and multiple on-chain analytics organizations attributed the Bybit theft to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, also known as TraderTraitor.