BITCOIN is being harnessed by North Korea to finance their “nuclear and ballistic missile programme” in a desperate attempt by despot leader Kim Jong-un to dodge the sanctions being imposed on him by the United Nations, a former US National Security Agency officer has claimed.
Priscilla Moriuchi stated the hermit kingdom could have brought in as much as $210million (£151million), an estimated 11,000 Bitcoins, from cryptocurrencies last year.
She said: “I would bet that these coins are being turned into something – currency or physical goods – that are supporting North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programme.”
The volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market means the rogue state would have been able to cash in their Bitcoins for as much as $210million (£156million) in December.
Meanwhile, if Kim Jong-un had waited until January, his cryptofund would have only been valued at $120million (£86million).
Ms Moriuchi, who currently works for Recorded Future, a cyber threat intelligence company, thinks the North Korean regime acquired its vast number of Bitcoins from mining or hacking.
Pyongyang has been accused of several devious cyber activities - last year the US accused the country of being behind the WannaCry attack that crippled NHS terminals across the UK.
Donald Trump’s security advisor, Tom Bossert, declared the rogue state “acted especially badly” and warned its “malicious behaviour is growing more egregious”.
He went on: "WannaCry was indiscriminately reckless.
“As we make the internet safer, we will continue to hold accountable those who harm or threaten us, whether they act alone or on behalf of criminal organisations or hostile nations."
The rogue state has also been accused of trying to raid the Bank of Bangladesh in 2015.
It is believed Kim Jong-un managed to plunder as much as $81million (£58million) from the incident.
Ms Moriuchi also informed The Telegraph that Recorded Future was investigating the possibility of North Korean hackers operating in nations that included China and India.
Although the hermit kingdom vehemently denies any allegations of hacking levelled against it, cyber experts and defectors have stated otherwise.
It has been claimed students at universities in North Korea are picked to join an organisation known as Bureau 121.
The group is understood to be at the heart of the country’s cyberwarfare efforts.
In a desperate effort to ramp up defence against North Korea’s alleged activities, Ms Moriuchi stated that increased regulations in the crypto sphere would allow for a “paper trail” that could be used to track the dealings of Kim Jong-un.
She went on: “That helps create a paper trail we can use to identify North Korean accounts and how North Korea is moving these currencies.”
Bitcoin is currently worth $11,540.02 - the price of the cryptocurrency has increased by 7.77 per cent in the last week.