TL;DR
- 29.5% decrease in cryptocurrency money laundering in 2023.
- Increase in the use of DeFi to hide the illicit origin of funds.
- Grupo Lazarus adapts new strategies, such as the use of a new mixer, after the closure of Sinbad.
Money laundering in the world of cryptocurrencies has been the subject of in-depth analysis by Chainalysis, revealing important trends and changes in tactics used by criminal groups such as the Lazarus Group.
According to the Chainalysis report, a significant decrease in money laundering activity was observed during 2023, with a 29.5% reduction in the total amount of funds sent from illicit addresses compared to the previous year.
Our latest Crypto Crime preview is out now! This time, we’re covering the latest trend in crypto money laundering. https://t.co/JgToScujjr
— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) February 15, 2024
Despite this overall decline, there was an increase in the involvement of DeFi protocols in money laundering, which is attributed to the continued growth of the DeFi sector and its inherent transparency.
This suggests that criminals are looking for new ways to hide the illicit origin of funds, taking advantage of the apparent opacity of DeFi protocols.
Additionally, changes in money whitewashing tactics were detected, with an increase in funds sent to gambling platforms and bridging protocols, particularly from wallets associated with ransomware.
Report highlights concentration of money laundering in fiat off-ramping services
In these cases, the majority of criminal activity is concentrated in a few services.
In 2023, 71.7% of illicit funds sent to these services went to just five of them, highlighting the importance of addressing these hotspots to combat cryptocurrency money laundering.
In addition, changes were observed in the money laundering tactics used by the most sophisticated criminal groups, such as the Lazarus Group.
These groups are using a variety of services and protocols to cleaning money, including the use of cross-chain bridges.
Lazarus Group was identified as one of the groups adapting using new money laundering strategies, such as using a new mixer called YoMix after the closure of Sinbad.
These findings underscore the importance of law enforcement and compliance teams understanding the new tactics and on-chain patterns used by criminals in the world of cryptocurrencies.
With the cryptocurrency money laundering landscape constantly evolving, it is critical to stay aware of and adapt to changes to ensure the integrity and security of the crypto ecosystem.
