Bybit Hack and Crypto Money Laundering: A Deep Dive
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou claims that 88% of the stolen crypto from the recent hack is still traceable. However, the incident has been linked to a massive money laundering operation. Is crypto becoming a preferred tool for money laundering?
Back in 2017, blackrockās Larry Fink criticized crypto as a tool for money laundering.yet, by 2022, BlackRock embraced Bitcoin, holding over 570,000 bitcoins. According to Chainalysis, 2022 saw a peak in crypto crime, with $54 billion used for illegal activities, including $31 billion for money laundering.
On March 20, Zhou reported that 7.59% of the stolen funds from the Bybit hack have gone dark, while the rest are frozen. The hacker used crypto mixers like Wasabi, TornadoCash, Railgun, and cryptomixer to launder the funds. Zhou urged bounty hunters to help decode these transactions.
Elliptic linked the Bybit hack to the Lazarus Group, a hacker association allegedly sponsored by North Korea. The stolen crypto may fund 40% of North Koreaās nuclear program. Decoding the mixer transactions remains a significant challenge.
Europol reports that money laundering is the primary criminal use of cryptocurrencies. The COVID-19 pandemic saw a rise in crypto transactions, leading to an increase in money laundering. In 2022, the laundered crypto volume reached
