North Korea is rolling in bitcoin. Only the US and UK have more

A major breach of Dubai-based trading platform Bybit last month netted hackers believed to be backed by Pyongyang US$1.5 billion in tokens

Souvenir tokens representing bitcoin are seen at an industry event in Hong Kong. Photo: AFP
North Korea is believed to hold the world’s third-largest reserve of government-owned bitcoin, following a US$1.5 billion cryptocurrency heist linked to state-backed hackers.

According to cryptocurrency portal Bitcoin.com, North Korea’s government now owns 13,562 bitcoin, valued at around US$1.14 billion, based on data from crypto-security firm Arkham Intelligence.

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