North Korea denies involvement in last year's Bybit theft, claiming the United States misled public opinion

According to the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea mentioned in its denial of involvement in the theft related to Binance that last year the United States linked the hacking incident at the cryptocurrency exchange platform Bybit to North Korea. The Korean Central News Agency stated that the United States misled international public opinion, creating the illusion that cyber fraud occurring around the world was all orchestrated by North Korea, which is a serious political provocation against North Korea. North Korea firmly opposes any attempts to politicize cyber issues and use them as a means of interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, stating that this is the consistent policy position of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea government.

The Korean Central News Agency also stated that it is necessary for the international community to reflect again on the fact that the current U.S. government announced the confiscation of illegally stolen cryptocurrency assets, acting as a national strategic reserve as soon as it took office last year. The Korean Central News Agency suggested that if the stolen massive cryptocurrency funds were to be recovered, one might discover clues related to the hacking incident. On February 21, 2025, Bybit experienced a large-scale theft incident, with a total value of approximately $1.5 billion. The U.S. FBI and several on-chain analysis agencies subsequently attributed the incident to the North Korean Lazarus Group (TraderTraitor).