In brief
- A new FATF report claims that crypto use by sanctioned states has grown exponentially.
- Stolen virtual assets, including $1.5B from ByBit, have funded North Korea’s nuclear activities.
- An emerging pattern of coordination among threat actors has been observed, an expert claims.
Cryptocurrency is increasingly enabling sanctioned states like North Korea and Iran to finance illicit weapons programs, according to a June 2025 report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental organization established over three decades ago by G7 countries.
The global watchdog identifies blockchain-based assets as critical vulnerabilities exploited by proliferation finance networks, citing incidents such as North Korea’s theft of…
Jun 27 2025
