Lazarus Group, the notorious North Korean hacking organization, now holds more Bitcoin than Bhutan, El Salvador, and Finland.
As per the latest data by Arkham Intelligence, the group holds over 13,500 BTC in over $1.1 billion. In addition it holds over 13,700 Ethereum in $26.1 million. The total value of its crypto holdings is $1.16 billion.
In February 2025, the group hacked the UAE-based Bybit crypto exchange and stole crypto assets worth $1.46 billion, mostly in ETH, in what is the largest crypto heist so far. The group has converted a large portion of the proceeds to Bitcoin.
After laundering these stolen assets, the Lazarus Group has become a leading Bitcoin holder. The hacking group now holds 13,518 Bitcoin, ahead of Bhutan (13,029 Bitcoin), El Salvador (6,089 Bitcoin), and Finland (1,981 Bitcoin) as per the on-chain analytics platform Bibo.
The Bitcoin holdings of four countries outsize those of the Lazarus Group though. The United States (207,189 BTC), China (194,000 BTC), the United Kingdom (61,000 BTC), and Ukraine (46,351 BTC).
Companies such as MicroStrategy (499,096 BTC), Block.one (140,000 BTC), Tether Holdings (83,758 BTC), Marathon Digital Holdings (40,435 BTC), and Riot Platforms (18,221 BTC) are still far ahead of the hacking group.
Unlike the Lazarus Group, the holdings of above-mentioned governments or companies are not tied to hacking.
The Lazarus Group has not stopped yet. On March 17, the Seychelles-based crypto exchange OKX reported a hacking attempt by the group, following which it has temporarily paused its decentralized exchange aggregator.
