Cross-chain bridge RenBridge has reportedly helped crypto criminals launder "at least" $540 million in various digital currencies from theft, fraud, ransomware and various other types of criminal activity since 2020.
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Onchain forensic firm Elliptic said in a new report that RenBridge has gained its popularity among criminal cyber gangs like Conti. According to published data, over $267 million in crypto stolen from various decentralized finance (DeFi) projects was laundered via RenBridge. Almost $34 million (out of $97 million) stolen from the Liquid crypto exchange was also sent to RenBridge.
Ransomware scammers have also been actively using the cross-chain bridge over the past few years. Structures close to the Ryuk ransomware, which was used for attacks against schools and hospitals, have also laundered over $92 million via RenBridge to date.
The news comes after the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Tornado Cash for laundering over $7 billion worth of crypto since 2019.
The US regulator says that the smart contract helped North Korean hackers Lazarus Group launder $455 million of stolen crypto. Moreover, Tornado Cash reportedly helped launder over $96 million from the Harmony bridge heist as well as $7.8 million from the Nomad bridge hack.
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