PANews reported on May 4 that a spokesperson for the North Korean Foreign Ministry responded to US accusations of funding cryptocurrency theft through the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), calling them "absurd slander" and a "political tool" aimed at fueling the US's "hostile policies." The spokesperson also stated that North Korea will not tolerate any confrontational behavior that undermines its national interests.

According to data from blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, North Korean-related cryptocurrency thefts have exceeded $6 billion since 2017, and their share of global hacking losses has risen from less than 10% in 2020 to 64% in 2025. In the first four months of 2026 alone, North Korean hackers were accused of stealing approximately $577 million, accounting for 76% of global cryptocurrency hacking losses. The KelpDAO ($292 million) and Drift Protocol ($285 million) incidents in April contributed the majority of this.

In addition, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned six individuals and two entities on March 13 for their involvement in North Korea’s IT worker program, accusing them of raising nearly $800 million through cryptocurrency transactions to support North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.