North Korea crypto thievry: TRM Labs $577M claim deny, Drift & KelpDAO hacks dem link

North Korea dey reject claims say dem thief crypto and dem call di allegations "absurd slander." Dispute follow one TRM Labs report wey talk say actors wey get connection to North Korea don steal about $577 million in crypto so far for 2026, wey be about 76% of this year hack losses. TRM Labs link most of di North Korea crypto theft to two April exploits. For Drift Protocol, TRM describe months of social engineering and alleged coordination between North Korea proxies and Drift staff. Dem also talk say on-chain staging start March 11 after one Tornado Cash withdrawal, den 31 withdrawals around April 1 for small window cause losses of about $285 million using Solana's durable nonce feature. For KelpDAO, TRM point to one LayerZero design flaw. After Arbitrum freeze about $75 million, attackers allegedly route remaining funds via THORChain, swap stolen ETH into BTC make total losses reach about $292 million. TRM attribute KelpDAO to "TraderTraitor" (linked to Lazarus Group) and say another North Korea-related group dey behind Drift. Traders suppose note say dis North Korea crypto theft narrative dey reinforce tail-risk around bridge and cross-protocol attacks. Even without admission, more evidence fit press near-term risk sentiment and make people moniTOR wallet, bridge, and laundering routes more.