North Korean hackers have stolen over $500 million from DeFi platforms in less than three weeks, marking a significant shift in their attack strategy. The attacks on Drift Protocol and KelpDAO have pushed North Korea's illicit cryptocurrency earnings past $700 million this year. On April 18, KelpDAO suffered a $290 million loss, the largest crypto theft of 2026, attributed to the Lazarus Group's TraderTraitor unit. Earlier, on April 1, Drift Protocol was hacked for $286 million, with blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic linking the attack to North Korean patterns. The recent attacks highlight a tactical evolution, with hackers targeting edge vulnerabilities in infrastructure rather than core smart contracts. The KelpDAO attack involved compromising LayerZero Labs' decentralized verification network, manipulating data channels without breaching core cryptography. This method underscores the increasing sophistication of North Korean cyber operations, which now include infiltrating global cryptocurrency companies with embedded agents. North Korea's digital asset thefts have reached $6.75 billion, with the Lazarus Group employing complex money laundering techniques to evade detection.