Cryptocurrency buyers should be prepared for more and bigger threats after North Korea’s recent robbery of close to $1.5 billion of cryptocurrency from crypto exchange Bybit. That’s just one of the implications of a study appearing in the February 2025 issue of the Quarterly Journal of Economics.

After exchange operator loses ether from a cold wallet in a North Korea-linked attack, bitcoin and ether fall as industry enthusiasm wanes.

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit said last week hackers had stolen digital tokens worth around $1.5 billion, in what researchers called the biggest crypto heist of all time.

Following the revelation Friday from cryptocurrency exchange firm Bybit that hackers stole digital tokens worth about $1.5 billion – in what may be the biggest crypto heist of all time – CEO Ben Zhou wrote on X Sunday that it has replenished its reserves. Bybit was able to do this through a mix of emergency loans and large deposits.