- Elliptic analysts projected a rise in illicit funds through DEXs to $10.5 billion by 2025.
- Criminals, including Lazarus Group, laundered $7 billion via DEXs, cross-chain bridges, and coin swaps.
- The Mixin Network breach attributed to $200 million in losses, a major component of crypto-related exploits.
According to Elliptic analysts, they had foreseen that the sum laundered via decentralized exchanges (DEXs), cross-chain bridges, and coin swap services would increase to $6.5 billion by the conclusion of 2023 and reach $10.5 billion by 2025.
However, recent on-chain analysis conducted by the blockchain analytics platform Elliptic has revealed that criminals, including the infamous North Korean hacking group Lazarus, have indeed laundered around $7 billion in illicit cryptocurrencies through these very DEXs, cross-chain bridges, and coin swap services. According to a press release, the second edition of the State of Cross-chain Crime report revealed that sanctioned entities and terrorists now hold more than 80 crypto assets across over 26 blockchains.
Our latest figures suggest that it is fast becoming the preferred money laundering method for a range of cybercrimes, including scams and crypto thefts, as enforcement actions continue to target criminals’ traditional means of obfuscating funds.
Elliptic
A blog by Elliptic reported that the Lazarus Group stands as the primary contributor to illicit funds laundered through cross-chain bridges, ranking as the third largest contributor to the broader category of cross-chain crime with a total of $900 million attributed to their activities. These criminals have evolved their tactics, employing increasingly sophisticated cross-chain methods such as derivatives trading and limit orders to obfuscate their money laundering endeavors.
On April 14, the U.S. Treasury took action by including an Ethereum wallet on its list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN), which had reportedly been employed by the Lazarus Group, a notorious North Korean hacking group. This wallet address was associated with the utilization of the Ronin Bridge exploit, and it contained a total of 148,000 ETH at the time of discovery, potentially acquired through the exploit. The Ronin Bridge team also confirmed the connection of this wallet to the exploit.
The latest infographic from the blockchain intelligence platform reported various sources of financial losses in the crypto space. Exit scams amounted to approximately $1.9 million, while flash loans contributed nearly $0.4 million to these losses. In stark contrast, crypto-related exploits accounted for a staggering $329.8 million.
CertiK, in its analysis, attributed the most substantial portion of losses for the current month to the attack that occurred on September 23rd, targeting the Mixin Network, a decentralized cross-chain transfer protocol based in Hong Kong. This breach resulted in a significant loss of $200 million, primarily attributed to a security breach within its cloud service provider.
