The sophistication of North Korean government-backed hackers is on the rise, with these groups now accounting for over 76% of crypto losses this year, totaling nearly $600 million. A notable example is the $285 million Drift Protocol exploit, which involved an unprecedented in-person social engineering attack spanning several months.

This elaborate scheme included face-to-face meetings between North Korean proxies and Drift employees. According to Ari Redbord, Global Head of Policy and Government Affairs at TRMLabs, 'North Korean proxies meeting with protocol employees in person over several months is, to my knowledge, unprecedented in North Korea's crypto hacking campaign.' This marks a significant shift from traditional remote hacking operations. TRMLabs' recent report highlights the role of North Korea's primary hacking groups, DPRK and Lazarus, in 76% of crypto losses due to hacks and exploits in 2026.

Redbord notes, 'What we are witnessing is not a broader campaign, but a sharper one. North Korea is moving faster and more precisely than ever.' The cumulative crypto theft attributed to North Korea now exceeds $6 billion since 2017.

The findings from TRMLabs coincide with the Wasabi Protocol exploit, which used a similar approach to the Drift hack on April 19, resulting in the theft of $4.5 million. In contrast, the $292 million KelpDAO breach exploited a known single-verifier flaw. The methods used by the hackers differed significantly from the Drift exploit. The Drift proceeds were converted to USDC, bridged to Ethereum, and swapped into ETH, with no movement since the theft, consistent with the DPRK's patient cashout pattern.

In contrast, the KelpDAO proceeds were immediately laundered through THORChain and Umbra, following the TraderTraitor playbook. The KelpDAO exploit led to DeFi's largest wipeouts, with $13 billion exiting several lending platforms, including Aave, which lost $8.54 billion in deposits over 48 hours, resulting in a nearly $200 million bad-debt crisis.

Industry participants are now helping to alleviate this crisis with $300 million in pledges.