Image credit: traviswolfe / Getty Images/iStockphoto
January 20, 2022
How North Korea Might Exploit New Video Games for Crypto
Pyongyang has demonstrated growing interest and capability in exploiting new financial technology to obtain valuable foreign currency needed for its weapons development programs. Given the rising popularity in trading cryptocurrency, North Korean hackers are likely to include new play-to-earn (P2E) crypto games within their illicit cyber-enabled financial schemes.
The online gaming industry has a history of illicit actors exploiting its networks and user base to conduct and facilitate cyber-enabled financial crime.
Once reserved for professional gamers winning massive cash prizes at national and global tournaments, video gaming has evolved to now provide amateur gamers and crypto enthusiasts with opportunities to earn large amounts of cryptocurrency with relative ease. Most video games follow play-to-win (P2W) mechanics that entice players to complete a series of puzzles, tasks, and activities to “beat the game” or progress to the next level. In order to earn money, professional players typically enroll in tournaments organized by third parties to win cash prices and other financial rewards. However, P2E crypto games operate on blockchain technology that facilitates the earning of cryptocurrency within the game itself, or non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that can be later sold for cryptocurrency. The technological mechanics of P2E crypto games remove the need for tournaments or third-party organizers to provide players with potential financial rewards outside of the game, which presents new financial risks within the online gaming world.
Read the full article from The Diplomat.
More from CNAS
-
The Chatter Podcast: Financial Intelligence, Fact and Fiction with Yaya Fanusie
David Priess spoke with Yaya Fanusie, CNAS Adjunct Senior Fellow, about his path to the CIA and NCTC, what analytic work on international economics and financial intelligence ...
By Yaya J. Fanusie
-
On LNG, Canada Turned Away Germany, Then Japan—This Country Cannot Keep Doing That
Canada has an opportunity to insist producers invest in the cleanest LNG supplies...
By Rachel Ziemba & Leslie Palti-Guzman
-
Isn’t That Stuff Just for Criminals?
Host Sheila Warren speaks with two of the foremost experts on cyrptocurrency, Dr. Marcus Pleyer, the former president of the Financial Action Task Force and now the deputy dir...
By Yaya J. Fanusie
-
Iranian Netizens Promote #Unity to Save Protesters From Execution
Rachel Ziemba, an Adjunct Senior Fellow, of the Energy, Economics, & Security Program discusses why petrochemicals are so important for Iran as the US toughens sanctions o...
By Rachel Ziemba