Cybercriminals Increasingly Use Cross-Chain Bridges for Money Laundering, Says Chainalysis
According to market intelligence platform Chainalysis, cybercriminals are now turning to cross-chain bridges as a means to move illicit funds. Cross-chain bridges allow users to transfer cryptocurrency assets from one blockchain to another. Chainalysis reports that the amount of crypto received by bridge protocols from illicit addresses saw a significant increase from $312.2 million in 2022 to $743.8 million in 2023, representing a year-on-year surge of 138%.
The report highlights how money laundering tactics are evolving, with the most sophisticated criminals utilizing platforms like bridges and mixers instead of just sending stolen assets to exchanges. Notably, the Lazarus Group, a North Korea-sponsored gang of cybercriminals, is among those utilizing bridges to move illicit funds.
Lazarus Group and the Harmony Hack
In 2022, the Lazarus Group stole $100 million in cryptocurrency from Horizon, the cross-chain bridge of Ethereum rival Harmony (ONE). Chainalysis provides details on how the gang laundered the funds. The stolen funds were moved from the Bitcoin blockchain to the Avalanche blockchain using a popular bridge protocol in May 2023. They were then swapped for a stablecoin and bridged again using a different protocol, this time from the Avalanche blockchain to the TRON blockchain.
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