The FBI has accused North Korea-linked hackers of one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts known - stealing about $1.5 billion worth of Ethereum from a Dubai-based company, according to the Associated Press.

The theft earlier this month at Bybit, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, is another case linked to a group of hackers identified by the U.S. government by the names TraderTraitor and Lazarus Group.

The hackers steal cryptocurrency “by distributing cryptocurrency trading applications that have been modified to include malware that facilitates cryptocurrency theft,” the FBI said.

The FBI said it believes the North Korean-backed hackers are “responsible for the theft.”

“TraderTraitor participants are acting quickly and have already converted some of the stolen assets into bitcoin and other virtual assets distributed across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains,” the FBI said. “These assets are expected to be laundered and eventually converted to fiat currency.”

North Korean state media did not confirm the theft or the FBI's allegations.

Pyongyang's mission to the United Nations in Geneva did not respond to The Associated Press' request for comment.