US allows vetted private firms to counter North Korean crypto theft

Washington is bringing screened private-sector firms into its fight against Pyongyang's digital heists, as losses top $2 billion a year The US is allowing vetted private firms to target North Korean crypto theft. That is a notable shift for a fight that has mostly belonged to prosecutors, sanctions officials, and FBI agents. North Korean actors are estimated to have stolen over $2 billion in digital assets in 2025, according to Chainalysis. One incident, the Bybit breach, accounted for approximately $1.5 billion of that total.