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☆ Over 60% of illegal crypto activity is tied to sanctioned groups or terrorist organizations, report finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The American blockchain analysis firm's "2024 Crypto Crime Report" found that $24.2 billion of illicit cryptocurrency was transferred in 2023, based on already identified illicit crypto wallets. Chainalysis retroactively updates its yearly crypto figures when new illicit wallets come to light. watch nowCrypto to avert sanctionsEntities like the crypto "mixer" Tornado Cash and Garantex took the lion's share of illicit funds in 2023. The amount of crypto transferred to sanctioned entities has climbed in recent years in tandem with a greater share of new trade restrictions specifying crypto wallets. Terrorist financingIllicit crypto volume identified by Chainalysis as terrorist financing accounted for a much smaller proportion than that of transactions to sanctioned entities in 2022.

Persons: Andrea Gacki, cryptocurrency, Chainalysis, Andrew Fierman, Garantex, Tornado Cash, Lazarus, Lazarus Group ., Sinbad.io, Chanalysis's Fierman, Tawfiq Muhammad Said Al, Law's, Hayat Tahrir Organizations: Foreign Assets, U.S . Department of, Treasury, Bloomberg, Getty, Hezbollah, CNBC, Tornado, Lazarus Group, U.S . Office, Foreign, Lazarus, National Bureau for, Iran's Quds Force, Al, ISIS, Hayat Locations: New York, Korean, Chainalysis, China, Latin America, North Korea, Iran, Iran's Quds, Syria, cryptocurrency

REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - A cyber extortion gang suspected of being an offshoot of the notorious Russian Conti group of hackers has raked in more than $100 million since it emerged last year, researchers said in a report published on Wednesday. An attempt to reach Black Basta via its darkweb site was not immediately successful. Elliptic cofounder Tom Robinson said the massive haul made Black Basta "one of the most profitable ransomware strains of all time." "Conti was perhaps the most successful ransomware gang we've seen," Robinson said. The latest findings suggest "some of the individuals responsible are replicating its success with the Black Basta ransomware."

Persons: Kacper, Russian Conti, Tom Robinson, Robinson, Conti, Black Basta, we've, Basta, Raphael Satter, James Pearson, Gerry Doyle Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Insurance, U.S . Treasury, Thomson Locations: Russian, bitcoin, Black, Russia, Ukraine, London

☆ U.S. Targets Russian Businesswoman, Saying She Helped Oligarchs Evade Sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Angus Berwick | Andrew Duehren | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Moscow’s international business center, where Garantex is based. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty ImageThe U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned a Russian businesswoman Friday who it said helped Russian oligarchs and cybercriminals use cryptocurrencies to evade U.S. sanctions. Ekaterina Zhdanova, 37, used digital currencies to facilitate large cross-border transactions, taking advantage of platforms with weak compliance controls such as a Russian crypto exchange called Garantex that the U.S. sanctioned last year, Treasury said in a statement.

Persons: Ekaterina Zhdanova Organizations: Agence France, . Treasury Department, Treasury Locations: Russian

☆ The Crypto Exchange Moving Money for Criminal Gangs, Rich Russians and a Hamas-Linked Terror Group
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-14 | by ( Angus Berwick | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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Even as overall crypto transaction volumes fell, the value of crypto transactions related to illicit activity rose for the second year running, Chainalysis said. Transactions associated with sanctioned entities increased more than 100,000-fold in 2022 and made up 44% of last year's illicit activity, Chainalysis said. The volume of stolen crypto funds rose 7% last year, but other illicit crypto transactions including those related to scams, ransomware, terrorism financing and human trafficking, saw volumes fall. "We've found in the past that crypto scams, for instance, take in less revenue during bear markets." Chainalysis said its $20.1 billion estimate only includes activity recorded on blockchain, and excludes "off-chain" crime such as fraudulent accounting by crypto firms.

☆ Treasury warns against Russia's efforts to evade sanctions with crypto
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin could use cryptocurrencies to evade U.S. and other sanctions launched against the Kremlin for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, a Treasury official told lawmakers Tuesday. Warren said she'd been concerned about the possibility of cryptocurrency being used by Russian elites to bypass sanctions since the country invaded in February. The Treasury Department has already identified Russian entities attempting to circumvent sanctions with crypto. Treasury issued its first-ever sanctions on these "mixers" in May and sanctioned another, "Tornado Cash," in August. Coinbase's chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, told CNBC that the sanctions set "a dangerous precedent," but Rosenberg called them effective.

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