Crypto-casualty of the week

he cryptocurrency crash has wiped out tens of millions of dollars-worth of funds stolen by North Korea, says Reuters. The regime of Kim Jong-un (pictured) relies on cyberattacks to evade sanctions and raise money for its military: it stole an estimated $2bn (equal in March, when cryptocurrency then worth $615m was stolen. But the size of these heists has limited North Korea’s ability to convert the funds into cash and the plunge in cryptocurrency values had reduced the value of what it holds. This may affect funding for weapons tests: it has fired a record number of missiles this year, at a cost of $620m according to South Korean sources, and plans to resume tests under a nuclear-weapons programme that costs an estimated $640m per year.