Tracking illicit actors through bridges, DEXs, and swaps

2024-04-26 Elliptic

https://www.elliptic.co/blog/tracking-crypto-through-bridges-dexs-and-swaps

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Elliptic describes how Lazarus Group uses cross-chain bridges and asset swaps to obscure stolen cryptocurrency flows. The DPRK-relevant example shows North Korean state-sponsored hackers moving funds from Ethereum to Binance Smart Chain through bridge activity, with Elliptic's virtual value transfer events linking inputs and outputs that would otherwise be split across chains. The article also discusses the FTX exploiter as a separate case, so the useful Lazarus takeaway is the cross-chain laundering pattern and the tracing method used to follow it.

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