The sophistication of North Korean government-backed hackers has increased significantly, now accounting for over 76% of crypto losses, totaling nearly $600 million this year alone. A notable example is the $285 million Drift Protocol exploit, which involved an unprecedented in-person social engineering attack lasting several months. This attack included face-to-face meetings between North Korean proxies and Drift employees, as described by TRMLabs. According to Ari Redbord, Global Head of Policy and Government Affairs at TRMLabs, 'North Korean proxies sitting across a table from protocol employees over a period of months is, to my knowledge, unprecedented in North Korea's crypto hacking campaign.' TRMLabs' new report, released on Thursday, highlights how North Korea's primary hacking groups, DPRK and Lazarus, are responsible for 76% of all crypto losses due to hacks and exploits in 2026.
The report notes that 'North Korea is moving faster and more precisely than ever,' with cumulative crypto theft exceeding $6 billion since 2017. The findings coincide with the Wasabi Protocol exploit, which used a similar approach to the Drift hack on April 19, resulting in a $4.5 million loss.
In contrast, the $292 million KelpDAO breach exploited a known single-verifier flaw. The hackers behind the Drift exploit converted the stolen funds to USDC, bridged to Ethereum, and swapped them into ETH, following the DPRK's patient, multi-year cashout pattern. In contrast, the Lazarus group immediately laundered the KelpDAO proceeds through THORChain and Umbra, utilizing Chinese intermediaries. The Kelp DAO 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.