Coinfirm Analyzes Binance Exchange Hackers Who Have Initiated the Transferring of Stolen Funds

According to a recent report from CoinDesk, analytical firm Coinfirm have been tracking the 7,000 BTC worth of crypto originally stolen from Binance on May 7. While the funds sat in the hacker’s wallet for some time after their initial attack, it eventually began moving from wallet to wallet, but with none of it really being sold off for fiat.

In the latest report, however, Coinfirm points to signs indicating a possible start of transferring stolen funds to Fiat through cryptocurrency exchanges.

Coinfirm’s co-founder Grant Blaisdell explained that the hackers have been able to liquidate some of the stolen cryptos in different exchanges. He stated:

“Analysis of one of the mainchains used by the hacker in layering stolen funds shows that they were able to liquidate at least 1.8087 BTC (21,000.00 USD) on the following exchanges.”

The co-founder said that the transfer happened as follows:Bitfinex: 0,7934 BTC

Binance: 0,4294 BTC

Bitmex: 0,0022 BTC

KuCoin: 0,0713 BTC

Kuna: 0,2482 BTC

Bitmarket: 0,2560 BTC

Crypterra: 0,0072 BTC

Bitcoin.de: 0,0007 BTC

WazirX: 0,0003 BTC

As noted by CoinDesk, these assets have been liquidated on the crypto exchanges or remain there to this day.

Need for Stringent Anti-Money Laundering Measures

However, what is fascinating is the fact that Binance itself is at the top of the list. Although the report does not divulge when the hackers were able to sell off their BTC on each exchange, it’s somewhat puzzling that they were able to return to the scene of the crime to sell off somewhere in the region of $5,000 worth of BTC for fiat.

The fact that the hackers were able to sell off some of the stolen crypto in Binance questions the commitment of the platform to anti-money laundering (AML) checks and is a disservice to the business itself, as it can’t even protect itself against the criminal elements amongst its customers. It is possible that the lack of stringent measures by the platform to prevent such fraudulent activities may draw the attention of the regulators at a time when the industry is facing lots of criticism for lack of solid measures to prevent the clients and money laundering activities.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin on July 15 said that money service businesses, of which Binance and other crypto exchanges fall, must submit to AML regulations around the world and end their practices of helping criminals conduct business. Theregulator expects to curtail criminal activities associated with crypto exchanges and reduce the high number of hacks in the industry.

Should crypto exchanges be forced to adopt stringent measures that will prevent the sale of stolen digital assets? Let us know in the comments section.