NEW YORK—Crypto mining as a tool to bolster money laundering capabilities extends beyond nation-states actors, holding special appeal to conventional criminals, according to a new report by blockchain forensic firm Chainalysis.
“Sanctioned nation-states such as Iran have reportedly resorted to crypto mining as a means to accumulate capital outside the conventional financial system,” the report states.
The report further noted that cybersecurity company Mandiant recently revealed that Lazarus Group, the North Korean hacking syndicate, has been using pilfered cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin to obtain newly-mined crypto through hashing rental and cloud mining services, Yahoo Finance said, adding, “cyber criminals use stolen crypto to mine “clean” coins and launder them through various services.”
‘Substantial Funds’
These services, according to Chainalysis, include an unnamed “mainstream exchange” that was identified as receiving “substantial funds” from both mining pools and wallets associated with ransomware activities, Yahoo Finance reported.
One such identified deposit address has received as much as $94.2 million, with $19.1 million originating from ransomware addresses and $14.1 million coming from mining pools, according to Yahoo Finance.
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