North Korean cybercriminals stole some $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency from a Dubai-based centralized exchange, marking the largest cryptocurrency heist ever recorded, according to a U.S. blockchain intelligence firm.

In a press release on Friday, TRM Labs assessed with “high confidence” that Pyongyang-backed actors were behind the theft from the Bybit exchange earlier the same day, based on overlaps between cryptocurrency wallet addresses controlled by the attackers and ones linked to previous DPRK campaigns.

“In a single day North Korea’s hackers nearly doubled the amount they stole in 2024,” the firm said, referencing its report earlier