More than a dozen blockchain companies have inadvertently hired IT employees from North Korea.

According to a CoinDesk investigation, North Korea has infiltrated the cryptocurrency industry through identity fraud, with over a dozen blockchain companies inadvertently hiring IT staff from North Korea, including well-known projects such as Cosmos Hub, Injective, Fantom, $Sushi, and Yearn Finance. The investigation found that these North Korean workers successfully passed interviews and background checks using false identities and transferred their salaries to blockchain addresses linked to the North Korean government. It is estimated that North Korean IT workers raise up to 600 million USD annually for the regime, some of which is used to fund its nuclear weapons program. Additionally, some companies that hired North Korean employees later suffered hacking attacks, with $Sushi losing 3 million USD in 2021 due to malicious code.