Reuters: At least $2.4 billion was laundered through Binance

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The Reuters news agency published an investigation into the activities of the world's largest crypto exchange over the past five years.

According to the investigation report,From 2017 to 2021, at least $2.35 billion of illegally acquired funds were laundered through Binance. To track down these funds, the agency reviewed court records, contacted law enforcement agencies, and also worked with blockchain analysis companies such as Chainalysis and Crystal Blockchain.

The author of the article connects several iconicevents: the hacking of the Slovak crypto exchange Eterbase, operations on the Hydra darknet trading platform and the actions of the North Korean hacker group Lazarus. All of them, according to the author, used Binance to facilitate various cryptocurrency transactions.

According to the report, in September 2020Lazarus attackers created anonymous accounts on the crypto exchange and used them to launder $5.4 million stolen from the Slovak Eterbase. Binance, according to the Eterbase co-founder, had no idea who was transferring the money. However, emails shared with Reuters show that the crypto exchange refused to share information or account data without a request from law enforcement. Eterbase eventually closed and filed for bankruptcy.

Regarding the famous selling sitebanned Hydra goods, the article states that the site used Binance to process drug payments totaling $780 million. According to Binance PR Director Patrick Hillman, the amount indicated by the authors of the article is inaccurate and greatly exaggerated . According to Reuters, in 2018, Binance was the preferred platform for processing transactions on Hydra due to its minimal user identification requirements.

According to Hillman, the report provided by Reuters is misleading and uses outdated information from 2019, as well as unverified personal accounts.

Previously, the UN Office on Drugs and DrugsCrime reported that among Mexican and Colombian drug cartels, cryptocurrencies are becoming a popular means of payment for money laundering and drug sales.