How DPRK IT workers launder money through crypto

A new report traces the money trail from North Korean IT workers back to the wallets and exchanges where the cash piles up. The workers ship code and design services to clients overseas, get paid in crypto, and funnel it through layers of wallets and exchanges before it hits traditional rails.

The trick isn't the tech — it's the routing. A single project can pass through half a dozen wallets across multiple blockchains before landing in a Korean exchange that eventually wires the money into the real economy. The chain of custody is messy enough that most auditors stop looking.

Why this matters for us: North Korea's IT sector is a quiet engine of revenue for the regime, and as long as the crypto routing stays opaque, that money keeps flowing — quietly enriching officials while the world watches other things.