"Law Enforcement Takes Down Crypto Exchange Allegedly Used to Launder $15 Million in Ransomware Payments"
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced the arrest of the Russian co-founder of a cryptocurrency exchange allegedly used to launder cybercrime proceeds. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco considers Anatoly Legkodymov's arrest for "unlicensed money transmitting" a major blow to cryptocurrency crime. Bitzlato is a China-based exchange registered in Hong Kong, and Legkodymov is a resident of Shenzhen, according to the DOJ. Legkodymov's arrest coincided with an international operation to seize the exchange's servers. The DOJ announced that French authorities, Europol, Spain, Portugal, and Cyprus demolished Bitzlato's digital infrastructure. According to Monaco, Bitzlato helped the transfer of criminal funds totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, supporting darknet marketplaces, and laundering the proceeds of ransomware operations. It was allegedly used to facilitate purchases on the dark web marketplace Hydra, which was seized in April by the DOJ and German partners. Using cryptocurrency accounts hosted by Bitzlato, Hydra buyers financed criminal purchases of illegal drugs, stolen financial information, and hacking tools. According to the DOJ, Bitzlato facilitated $700 million in direct or indirect sales transfers on Hydra between 2018 and 2022. Allegedly, more than $15 million in ransomware profits were laundered through the exchange. This article continues to discuss the takedown of the cryptocurrency exchange used to launder millions of dollars in ransomware payments.