Hackers, scammers and other bad actors laundered over $2.3 billion through Binance between 2017 and 2021, Reuters has learned, citing on-chain data provided by Crystal Blockchain, Chainalysis, law enforcement and court documents.
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Binance Chief Communications Officer Patrick Hillman told Reuters that the exchange did not consider the calculation to be accurate, adding that Binance was developing "the most sophisticated cyber forensics team on the planet."
Reuters particularly noted that traders from Hydra, an illicit drug marketplace on darknet, processed around $780 million to make and receive crypto payments. Other hackers like North Korean gang Lazarus also used Binance to launder the money, the report says.
According to Reuters, the gang laundered some of the cryptocurrency stolen from Eterbase, a Slovakia-based cryptocurrency exchange that lost $5.4 million back in 2020. Eterbase Co-Founder Robert Auxt told Reuters that Binance "had no idea who was moving money through their exchange." As of press time, the Slovakia-based crypto exchange still can't find the stolen funds.
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