ZachXBT reveals that a hacker group transferred 3,520 Bitcoins, estimating $330.7 million from a victim’s wallet and laundered it via six exchanges into Monero.
ZachXBT mentions that independent hackers were behind this hack, and neglected all the claims that made the Lazarus Group responsible for this activity. An anonymous blockchain investigator, ZachXBT, has identified a suspicious transfer including 3,520 Bitcoin, whose value is estimated at around $330.7 million, signaling a major threat. The transaction was carried out on April 28, shifting the funds from a potential victim’s wallet to another address bc1qcry…vz55g. After this transfer, the funds were laundered via six instant exchanges and traded into privacy-focused crypto Monero. Due to this activity, the price of Monero (XMR) spiked 50% and was trading at a high of $339 on the same day, the data from CoinMarketCap reveals. At the press time, the price of XMR hovered at $270, around 18% up in the last 24 hours. ZachXBT mentions that independent hackers were behind this hack, and neglected all the claims that made the Lazarus Group responsible for this activity.
Major Criminal Transaction Relies on Mainstream Cryptocurrency
Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis firm, reports that the majority of criminal transactions rely on mainstream cryptocurrency. It added, “As the concern revolves around criminals shifting to privacy coins for anonymity, most of the criminal activity is based on mainstream cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, and stablecoins.” The firm further went on to mention that these assets are still captivating as they provide the same benefits to bad actors as they do to actual users. The privacy coins include restrictions for criminals because of reduced liquidity, and many prominent exchanges have also delisted assets such as Monero. The analysis firm also noted that the blockchain transparency permits law enforcement to track down and recover illegal funds, despite the usage of cryptocurrency. Last year, a video from Chainalysis revealed that Monero transactions are traceable regardless of their privacy-preserving nature. The video included the process of how Chainalysis could track transactions back to 2021 through its own malicious Monero nodes.
