Binance BNB/USD has been the means for over $2.4 billion if illegal crypto to be laundered from 2017 to 2021, according to a Monday Reuters report covered by Decrypt.
The report compiles numerous different hacks and occurrences of illicit laundering that were transacted via Binance.
What Happened: Claiming funds of over $2.4 billion were stolen, the report cited Lazarus, Hydra and Eterbase as different cases of funds being laundered. The Lazarus attacks, orchestrated by a group of hackers named Lazarus, were said to involve $1.75 billion stolen via Binance to fuel nuclear weapon programs in North Korea.
The group was believed to have attacked the Ronin sidechain and have involvement in the Eterbase hack, involving $5.4 million stolen. The darknet platform Hydra also funded $780 million worth of drugs via Binance. Their servers were later seized by the United States Justice Department in collaboration with German legal forces.
Decrypt reports that Binance's chief communications officer Patrick Hillman said numerous elements of the report are inaccurate.
Why It's Important: Binance serves as the biggest crypto exchange globally and holds over $41 billion in derivatives and $10.5 billion in spot funds. Illicit transactions and laundering through the world’s largest exchange expose vulnerabilities in exchanges across the world and pose a threat to the long-term growth of the cryptocurrency sector.
In order for centralised and decentralized exchanges to grow optimally, these vulnerabilities must be examined and repaired.
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