Cryptocurrency theft had a record-breaking year in 2022, with more than £3.2bn stolen worldwide, according to new research.

A staggering £629 million was taken in October alone, the highest amount ever recorded in a single month.

It helped the year as a whole to eclipse the previous 2021 high of £2.7bn, although the total number of hacks dipped slightly.

The annual report from Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm whose data is used by governments, banks, and businesses around the world, claims that this activity was largely driven by hackers based primarily in North Korea.

Under the rule of Kim Jong-un this regime has been repeatedly accused of using hacked cryptocurrency to make money and evade international sanctions to finance its missile program.

In 2022, Chainalysis believes hackers affiliated with Pyongyang, most notably the Lazarus Group crime syndicate, stole an estimated £1.4 billion in cryptocurrency assets, breaking their own record.

Researchers said the group had been linked to the regime before. Although it is not known whether it is an external contractor or part of the government’s internal operations, it is recognized.

The amount of crypto believed stolen far exceeds North Korea’s total annual exports, the latest figures from the Observatory for Economic Complexity put at £115 million by 2020.

“It is not an exaggeration to say that cryptocurrency hacking is a significant part of the nation’s economy,” Chainalysis said.

Where was the money taken from?

In 2022, the biggest victims of crypto-attacks were within decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. This is where traders remove any intermediary such as a bank or