As per the CNBC report, criminals used the cross-chain bridge RenBridge to launder greater than $540 million since 2020, in crimes associated to crypto money, reported blockchain analytics agency Elliptic.
This features a staggering $153 million in ransomware funds. It implies that hackers have been leveraging RenBridge as they break into company networks and pressure corporations to pay in crypto so as to get again their knowledge. As per Elliptic, the cross-bridge platform RenBridge has been an essential facilitator to ransomware platforms linked to Russia.
Elliptic’s vice chairman of coverage and regulatory affairs David Carlisle refers to those cross-chain bridges as a blessing in addition to a curse. He states that on one hand, these bridges broaden the market by providing one other platform to transact. He provides that cross-chain bridges are important to the event of general DeFi house.
The flipside is, “they’re effectively ungoverned, and so very vulnerable to hacks, or to being used in crimes like money laundering,” said Carlislie.
Regulation of Crypto Bridges
Carlislie believes that regulators will begin cracking down on crypto bridges over the following 12 months. The newest information comes a day after the U.S. Treasury sanctioned the usage of crypto mixer Tornado Cash. Reportedly, Tornado Cash laundered greater than $7 billion since 2019.
Carlislie provides: “One major question is whether bridges will become subject to regulation since they act a lot like crypto exchanges, which are already regulated”.
The Elliptic report notes that RenBridge has turn out to be a well-liked vacation spot for crypto criminals to launder crypto property through acts of fraud, theft, ransomware, and different prison actions. It additionally provides that crypto property laundered through RenBridge had been possible stolen by North Korea.
Elliptic notes that greater than $267 million was stolen from exchanges and DeFi companies by way of RenBridge during the last two years.
“Cross-chain bridges are a loophole in the regulatory regime that has been painstakingly established by governments around the world, to combat crypto laundering. Ransomware gangs, fraudsters and even North Korean hackers are shifting from regulated crypto exchanges to a decentralized, unregulated alternative,” mentioned Tom Robinson, Elliptic’s chief scientist.
Last week, crypto-bridge Noman misplaced greater than $200 million in a serious exploit. Soon after, thieves began utilizing RenBridge to launder cash.
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