With approximately $1billion worth crypto being stolen from cryptocurrency exchanges in 2018, there is no way cryptocurrency hackers can move those funds without anti-money laundering techniques employed by exchange catching them on their tracks.

But as it has turned out, the cryptocurrency hackers have devised a plan to blindfold exchanges to not realize when the illicit coins are passing through their platforms.

According to Chainanalysis, a blockchain analysis firm, part of the strategy used by cryptocurrency hackers is transferring them thousands of times before converting them to fiat.

Chainalysis noted that:

The stolen funds were transferred an average of 5,000 times before they were converted into cash.

The blockchain analysis firm also noted that roughly 1 billion U.S dollars worth of cryptocurrency has been stolen by only two cryptocurrency hacker groups. The real identity of the groups was not mentioned in the report but the blockchain analysis firm called the two groups ‘alpha’ and ‘beta.’

Alpha:

Tends to immediately begin shuffling the funds around. One hack involved 15,000 transfers. The entity converted about three-quarters of its stolen funds into cash within an average of 30 days.

Beta:

May sit on the stolen funds for up to 18 months, waiting for any publicity surrounding the hack to fade. When they feel ready to cash out, they quickly hit one exchange, cashing out over 50% of funds within days.

With delays in cashing out and shuffling the stolen funds, the cryptocurrency hackers sometimes even use crypto exchanges with a strong anti-money laundering infrastructure without being detected.

With such revelations, cryptocurrency exchanges are required to strengthen their infrastructure to detect illicit money flowing through their platforms.

Which other means do you think cryptocurrency hackers use to evade being detected by AML procedures when cashing out their illicit digital wealth?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.