More than $2.5bn of the $6.3bn taken was withdrawn in one transaction alone.Photograph: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Rex

The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange has been hit by a $6.3bn heist that, according to experts, is likely to be the work of North Korea.

This is not the first time a crypto market has been targeted by hackers, and the rogue state has a track record of this type of theft. Here we answer some key questions about what's happened:

Just how big a deal is this?

It could be the biggest heist of any kind in history, according to Elliptic, a consultancy specialising in crypto-related crime. It is more than four times bigger than the previous largest crypto hack, the $1.5bn one targeting the Bybit exchange last year, and Elliptic says there does not appear to be anything comparable in the pre-crypto era.