On-chain detective ZachXBT revealed this afternoon that Bitcoin valued at up to $330 million (3,520 BTC) was suspected to have been stolen and quickly laundered into the privacy coin Monero (XMR) through multiple platforms.
Large-scale money laundering operation, Monero surges
ZachXBT pointed out that this large sum of money was quickly dispersed to at least six instant trading platforms for conversion. This sudden and massive buying spree even caused the price of Monero to surge by about 50% in a short time, attracting market attention. As of the time of writing, it has retreated to $289.15, still showing a 26% increase in the last 24 hours.
Note: Monero was chosen because of its strong privacy technology, such as ring signatures, which effectively obfuscate the source and destination of transactions, making tracking extremely difficult, thus becoming a preferred tool for illegal funds.
The entire incident highlights the dual nature of privacy coins: they protect the privacy of legitimate users but also become a breeding ground for crime. At the same time, it challenges the crypto ecosystem: how to effectively combat financial crime while ensuring innovation and user privacy? This will be an important issue that the crypto world will continue to face in the future.