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Blockchain research firm Elliptic says the amount of money laundered through cross-chain and cross-asset services has reached ten figures in July this year.
In a new press release, Elliptic says cross-chain crime is exceeding expectations after reaching $7 billion a few months ago, higher than the previously predicted figure of $6.5 billion by the end of the year.
The blockchain research firm says North Korea’s hacking organization, the Lazarus Group, is responsible for nearly 13% of the total money laundered through cross-chain and cross-asset protocols.
“The Lazarus Group is without a doubt the largest source of all illicit funds laundered via cross-chain bridges and the third largest source of all cross-chain crime overall, with over $900 million laundered via cross-chain methods.”
Elliptic notes that nearly 39% of illegal or high-risk funds were laundered in a one-year period.
“Between July 2022 and July 2023, $2.7 billion was laundered through cross-border crime.”
According to Elliptic, more than 80 different crypto assets are owned by sanctioned and terrorist entities across more than 26 blockchains.
On the increasing sophistication of cross-chain and cross-asset crime, Elliptic says:
“Criminals use more complex cross-chain methods – such as derivatives trading and limit orders – to conceal their money laundering activities.”
Last year, Elliptic predicted that illicit or high-risk funds laundered through cross-chain bridges, decentralized exchanges and coin-mixing services could reach $10.5 billion by 2025.
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