Exploring How Hackers Utilize Mining Pools as Mixers: A Chainalysis Study

Ransomware Wallets Using Mining Pools to Clean Money

Whilst those in the crypto world who are of good intent pour their ingenuity into creating new products, those of a nefarious disposition use their inventiveness to come up with increasingly sophisticated methods of concealing their ill-gotten gains.

A recent study conducted by blockchain analytics company Chainalysis reveals that wallets used in ransomware attacks are making use of crypto mining pools to clean up the money acquired through their illegal activities.

The company stated that a wallet address with a lot of activity from a “mainstream exchange” was sent funds from wallets and mining pools connected to ransomware. Almost $100 million in digital assets were transferred to the address, with $19.1 million from ransomware sources and $14.1 million from mining pools.

The chart illustrates a complicated endeavor to clean money via mining pools. As per Chainalysis, the ransomware perpetrator sent money to the exchange via a mining pool in order to “escape setting off compliance alarms” inside the exchange.

In this instance, the mining pool operates as a crypto mixer, making the source of the funds unclear. This creates a veil of obfuscation, causing onlookers to assume that the funds have been earned through mining and not from a ransomware attack.

Binance has launched Bitcoin mining cloud services in spite of the SEC’s crackdown on crypto in the US.

Analysis firm Chainalysis reported that wallets associated with ransomware have sent $158.3 million to mining pools since 2018, indicating a rise in value transferred. In one instance, an exchange wallet address was observed to have received the funds.

Chainalysis proposed that a more thorough wallet inspection process in combination with Know Your Customer protocols and the refusal of funds from illegal addresses could be utilized to address the apparently large issue in the crypto space.

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