Latest News by Industry
• Firms in Moscow City received as much as 48% of crypto from illicit addresses
• Report said Russian Evil Corp has beenprolific in ransomware with leaders have alleged ties to the Russian government
Nearly three-quarters of ransomware "revenue" in 2021 went to addresses that are "highly likely" to be affiliated with Russia.
In Chainalysis' 2022 Crypto Crime Report, they reported that, of their cryptocurrencies attacked, 74% had ransomware strains linked with Russia. Chainalysis has over $400 million dollars worth of
cryptocurrency.
The report determined if strains are affiliated to Russia based on criteria like whether they avoid attacking former Soviet countries, indicators such as language and location, and if the attack has a connection
with Russia-based cybercrime organization Evil Corp.
Moscow City as money-laundering hub Chainalysis, in its report, said between 29% and 48% of all
digital tokens, came from "illicit and risky" addresses, went to businesses in the Russian capital's financial district, Moscow City, in the last three years.
The recipients included Suex, an over-the-counter exchange
that the U.S. government has sanctioned, Eggchange--whose co-founder was
arrested by Russian authorities in November--and peer-to-peer exchange
Bitzlato.
The report said these firms are linked to money laundering
the illegally obtained fund.
However, some big businesses, "despite receivingmillions of dollars worth of funds from illicit addresses, those funds only represent 10% or less of all cryptocurrency they receive. Those instances could
attributed to the business's lack of knowledge, rather than purposeful criminal activity," Chainalysis said while mentioning other businesses whose illicit funds make up as much as 30% or more of all cryptocurrency
received.
Link to Russia
In a joint report by cybersecurity authorities of the U.S.,
U.K., and Australia, published last week, the government agencies said
ransomware attacks have grown substantially in the past year, with most of the
attacks were targeted to the critical infrastructure sector.
Last week, the U.S. government seized over $3.6 billion in Bitcoin stolen during a
2016 hack of the Bitfinex currency exchange and arrested Ilya Lichtenstein and
his wife, Heather Morgan, linked to Russia.
Meanwhile, Russia legalized cryptocurrency last Thursday and set
rules for transaction limits. The nation created a guideline and said crypto
transactions of over 600,000 rubles (roughly $8,000) would be declared illegal
and considered a criminal offense, and fines will also be levied on those who
illegally accept crypto as a means of payment.
Picture Credit: Bitcoinist