North Korea Trying to Mine Bitcoin - Report

North Korea (DPRK) has tried to mine Bitcoin (BTC), according to a report by Yonhap News.

Yonhap News gathered by their information from a research unit from South Korea’s state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB).

The mining attempt by North Korea – which was allegedly done “on a small scale” between May and July 2017 – was unsuccessful, although the reasons for this have not been divulged.

The KDB report claims that the interest of North Korea lies in the fundamental “characteristics of cryptocurrencies, including anonymity, difficulties of tracing money and cashability.” The KBD research unit cited a local media report as the source of its information on the mining story.

KDB’s research unit has also claimed that a North Korean tech firm, Chosun Expo, is working on a Bitcoin crypto exchange, although no more details were made available.

The research unit has also claimed that its interviews with North Korean defectors propose that the majority of the country’s residents have limited knowledge of crypto, which is in stark contrast to their southern counterparts.

While widespread knowledge of crypto may escape most citizens in the tight grip of North Korea, which is a media-controlled state, North Korean hackers last week made the headlines for allegedly corrupting a cryptocurrency exchange with malware that targeted both Windows and macOS systems.

Meanwhile, reports are emerging of an alleged upcoming blockchain conference in Pyongang later this year.