U.S. and International Law Enforcement Agencies Seize Bitcoin and Servers Related to Russian Ransomware Gang
According to BlockBeats, on August 12, U.S. and international law enforcement agencies seized 4 servers, 9 domain names, and approximately $1 million in Bitcoin, which are related to a notorious Russian ransomware gang.
The U.S. Department of Justice stated that this operation commenced on July 24 and was carried out in conjunction with multiple countries, targeting infrastructure associated with BlackSuit and Royal ransomware. Investigators believe that both types of ransomware were developed by the same gang.
Authorities claim that since 2022, the gang has extorted over $500 million in ransom, attacking more than 450 victims in the U.S. and illegally profiting at least $370 million. The highest single ransom amount reached $60 million.
The seized cryptocurrency was valued at $1,091,453 at the time of confiscation, originating from a digital wallet frozen by a trading platform in January 2024, containing part of the Bitcoin ransom paid by a victim in April 2023.