North Korea, which is suspected of having continuously engaged in virtual currency hacking by mobilizing hacker organizations, has been claimed to hold more Bitcoin than Elon Musk, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Tesla.
On the 23rd (local time), cryptocurrency specialist media CoinDesk reported that according to data from the cryptocurrency information firm Arcum Intelligence, North Korea's hacking organization Lazarus has been confirmed to hold 13,441 Bitcoins, worth approximately $1.14 billion (about 1.67 trillion won).
Tesla holds 11,509 Bitcoins. This means North Korea possesses about 16% more Bitcoin than Tesla. Tesla is a publicly traded company and holds the fourth largest amount of Bitcoin in the world.
The significant increase in North Korea's Bitcoin holdings is presumed to have occurred after one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Bybit, was hacked. On the 21st of last month, Bybit was hacked, leading to the theft of cryptocurrencies worth $1.46 billion (2.1 trillion won), which was also suspected to be the work of Lazarus. Most of the stolen coins were Ethereum. North Korea is believed to have converted a substantial portion of the stolen Ethereum into Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump reaffirmed his commitment last week to making the U.S. a genuine Bitcoin superpower and the world's cryptocurrency capital. CoinDesk noted that while President Trump made this declaration, there is also interest in how North Korean hackers will be handled.
The U.S. government holds 199,109 Bitcoins worth more than $16 billion (about 23 trillion won). These were confiscated due to money laundering charges and other reasons. Trump is pushing for the establishment of a cryptocurrency strategic reserve based on this.