Over $4 billion stolen through cross-chain transactions

The large market and transaction volume that has flown through many blockchain infrastructures over the years have not been without the dark side.

Elliptic.co, released a report recently highlighting the level of damages done through crypto-based transactions. Elliptic.co is a company that “provides blockchain analytics for crypto asset compliance”. 

The report released by Elliptic is focused on three main services that facilitate crypto transactions: decentralized exchanges (DEXs), cross-chain bridges, and coin swap services.

According to the findings, cyber criminals, as well as organizations, have deceptively utilized DEXs, cross-chain bridges, and coin swap services to transfer about $4 billion worth of crypto. 

As mentioned, these crimes have been carried out by hackers, online gambling sites, Ponzi schemes, and illegal virtual asset service providers. 

RenBridge used to launder over $540 million

The report reads that DEXs was used to steal $1.2 billion of the $4 billion discovered. In contrast, RenBridge, a cross-chain bridge used for swapping assets, was involved in the laundering of over $540 million worth of crypto assets.

The records also bear that criminals stole $1.2 billion from the initiation of coin swap activities. These are services that allow anyone to swap crypto assets across chains but without having a legitimate account.

The findings by Elliptic.co show that there are a lot of assets stolen anonymously by cyber criminals. And products and services built on blockchain technology are used as the gateway to facilitate these activities.

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