---
title: Federal Judge Freezes North Korea-Linked Crypto Wallets in the $1.5 Billion Bybit Theft
description: To reach defendants it could not name, the exchange delivered notice of the case by airdropping NFTs into their wallets, and one holder wrote back.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-08-09T08:30:00.000Z
updated: 2026-08-09T08:45:01.278Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/bybit-north-korea-court-injunction-nft-notice
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-bitcoin-coin-with-combination-padlocks-on-a-wooden-surface-s-4808267.jpg
categories: Money & Legacy
content_type: News
region: Global
publication: Rich Dad Magazine
access: members
schema_type: Article
---

A federal judge in Washington has barred the holders of a set of cryptocurrency wallets from moving any funds traceable to the theft of $1.5 billion from the exchange Bybit, in a lawsuit that names the North Korean government among its defendants.

Bybit filed the case, Bybit Technology Limited v. Democratic People's Republic of Korea, in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on June 18, 2026, and it was sealed the same day. Judge John D. Bates unsealed [the docket](https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73727990/bybit-technology-limited-v-democratic-peoples-republic-of-korea/) by minute order on August 6. The individual wallet addresses at the center of the case remain under seal.

## The Complaint Names a Government, an Intelligence Bureau and Twenty Strangers

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