American Justice Department Targets North Korean Illegal Funds Network, Confiscates Additional Cryptocurrency
U.S. DOJ Goes After North Korea's Illegal Finance Operation, Confiscates More Crypto
U.S. officials obtained multiple criminal verdicts and recovered an additional $15 million in funds from North Korean crypto thefts, the Justice Department stated.
By Jesse Hamilton|Edited by Nikhilesh De Nov 14, 2025, 5:46 p.m.
What to know:
- Prosecutors and investigators within the U.S. Justice Department added to its roster of convictions and crypto seizures in its continued pursuit of North Korean offenders.
- The recent confiscation of $15 million in USDT supplements other recent digital currency seizures by U.S. law enforcement, prompting questions about how these assets may relate to U.S. plans for establishing crypto reserves.
The U.S. Justice Department secured a series of convictions in its effort to combat domestic facilitators in schemes by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to illicitly obtain substantial amounts of cryptocurrency, and it also impounded holdings from cyber intrusions targeting crypto platforms, the department reported in a declaration on Friday.
The five declarations of guilt announced by the DOJ pertained to individuals that assisted North Korea in procuring U.S. employment for fraudulent information-technology experts, acquiring stolen U.S. credentials for the workers, and helping to obscure their geographic location as the IT employees garnered salaries from numerous U.S. enterprises. Investigations carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation "continue to reveal the North Korean government’s persistent endeavor to circumvent U.S. sanctions and generate millions to support its dictatorial regime and weapons programs,” stated Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s counterintelligence division, in a public statement. He advocated for companies to enhance their screening procedures for remote employees to counteract this pattern.
Authorities have also been consistently seizing crypto assets from wrongdoers across the globe, noting another $15 million in Tether's USDT originating from North Korean sources on Friday. These assets are linked to cyber intrusions associated with the group identified as Advanced Persistent Threat 38, which is allegedly tied to the North Korean military.Read More: North Korean Hackers Were Behind Crypto's Largest 'Theft of All Time'
Earlier in the week, the DOJ and other federal organizations also declared a Scam Center Strike Force to concentrate on the hubs of so-called pig-butchering scams, often situated in Southeast Asia and managed by Chinese criminal syndicates. The authorities indicated they'd impounded an additional $80 million in illegally obtained funds in that initiative. Victims will be recompensed utilizing the seized currency, according to the DOJ.
What remains ambiguous is how much of these confiscated crypto funds will eventually be deposited in the reserves President Donald Trump has been aiming to create as a lasting investment for the U.S. government. His administration has been attempting to establish a so-called bitcoin strategic reserve to house all BTC obtained during criminal and civil asset forfeitures, and Trump also mandated the establishment of an independent reserve to accommodate all other digital assets. Nonetheless, officials engaged in the construction of these reserves have implied that legislative action may be essential to formally institute the plan.
Read More: No U.S. Bitcoin Reserve Plans as White House Touts Crypto Report
