Working together, Binance and the Ukrainian authorities captured the criminal gang that ran a ransomware campaign and laundered $42 million in cryptocurrencies over the last two years. The exchange revealed this security project just yesterday. Still, it had been in the works given it collaborated with Ukraine’s authorities back in November 2019, has signed an MoU with the country’s ministry of Digital Transformation.

According to the Binance revelation, these malicious actors who leveraged its ecosystem to commit crimes both locally and internationally were arrested in June. Upon their arrest, Ukraine’s cyber police found $200,000 worth of ammunition, assault rifles, cash, and computer equipment. The suspects are now facing charges and could face up to 8 years in custody if found guilty.

Binance detailed that it used the ‘Bulletproof Exchanger’ tact to clamp down on suspicious transactions. This initiative basically allows the exchange to run extensive due diligence on transactions between Binance wallets and high-risk players. In this case, they include other crypto exchanges whose KYC/AML protocols are more relaxed or operate in jurisdictions with minimal or no enforcement when it comes to crypto activity.

Notably, Binance’s Sentry division, which is tasked with detecting high-risk transactions, collaborated with analytics firm TRM Labs. The two entities further worked in liaison with the Ukrainian cyber police, as highlighted earlier, leading to the apprehension of suspected individuals.

This is not the first time Binance is assisting authorities to identify rogue actors, the exchange reportedly handles a couple of law enforcement requests globally. In fact, Binance had earlier on helped U.K. authorities in the investigation of an online fraud that led to the loss of $51 million. Looking back, the tone towards authorities appears to be changing to a positive one over time. The exchange highlighted that this change infact is necessary to uphold the crypto industry reputation,

“For the health and sustainability of the entire industry, it is important to identify and help bring to justice those who abuse cryptocurrency and negatively affect the industry and its reputation.”

Similar to Notcoin - TapSwap on Solana Airdrops In 2024

origin »

235 +