elliptic

According to CoinDesk, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic stated that the Drift Protocol attack resulted in a loss of $285 million, with "multiple signs" pointing to the North Korean-supported DPRK hacker organization. Elliptic focused on analyzing on-chain behavior, money laundering techniques, and signals at the network level, all of which align with previous state-affiliated attacks.The Elliptic report noted: "If confirmed, this would be the 18th DPRK attack tracked by Elliptic this year, with over $300 million stolen to date." On a technical level, Elliptic described this attack as "premeditated and meticulously planned," with early test transactions and pre-positioned wallets prior to the main attack. After the execution of the attack, the funds were quickly consolidated and transferred across chains, converted into more liquid assets, forming an organized and repeatable money laundering process aimed at obscuring the source of funds while maintaining control.This incident involved over ten types of assets, with funds being transferred across chains from Solana to Ethereum and other chains, further highlighting the importance of cross-chain tracing capabilities. Drift Protocol is the largest decentralized perpetual contract trading platform on the Solana blockchain, and its token has dropped over 40% to approximately $0.06 since the hack.

The latest report from blockchain analysis company Elliptic points out that a cryptocurrency exchange related to Russia, known as the "shadow network," is assisting in evading international sanctions through large-scale cryptocurrency transactions and names five platforms, most of which have not yet been sanctioned and still provide Russian entities with funding channels to bypass traditional banking regulations. Among them, ABCeX is identified as the largest, having processed at least $11 billion in cryptocurrency transactions.The report also notes that although Exmo claims to have exited the Russian market, on-chain data shows that it still shares custodial wallet infrastructure; Rapira, registered in Georgia and with an office in Moscow, is said to have direct transactions exceeding $72 million with the sanctioned exchange Grinex; Bitpapa evades monitoring by frequently changing wallet addresses; and Aifory Pro provides cash-to-crypto exchange services in Moscow, Dubai, and Turkey.Analysis indicates that the previously targeted cryptocurrency-related sanction evasion infrastructure in Russia has not disappeared but has instead dispersed across more platforms.

Blockchain analysis company Elliptic's latest report shows that the ruble stablecoin A7A5 has surpassed $10 billion in on-chain transaction volume since its launch in 2025.This stablecoin is primarily launched by the Russian company A7 LLC, aimed at helping Russian businesses evade Western sanctions. The main function of A7A5 is to serve as a bridge asset between the ruble and USDT, with a total trading volume reaching $17.3 billion, the vast majority of which occurs on exchanges like Grinex in Kyrgyzstan.Despite the significant trading volume, its growth has been notably constrained since August 2025, when countries like the United States imposed sanctions on A7A5. New token issuance has essentially stalled since the end of July, with daily trading volumes dropping from a peak of $1.5 billion to around $500 million. Major DEXs like Uniswap have listed it on their token blacklist, while the liquidity injection of USDT on its own DEX has significantly decreased. Sanctions have led users to face the risk of account freezes when transferring USDT from A7A5 to mainstream exchanges, increasingly isolating it from the broader crypto ecosystem.

Cryptocurrency tracking company Elliptic's latest analysis shows that the Chinese-dominated crypto black market ecosystem on Telegram has reached an all-time high. Some platforms built on Telegram facilitate nearly $2 billion in money laundering and fraud-related transactions each month, including money laundering services, stolen data, fake investment websites, AI deepfake tools, and human trafficking.Researchers point out that these markets have surpassed dark web platforms like AlphaBay and Hydra, becoming the largest illegal online crypto market in history.

According to Solid Intel's monitoring, Vitalik Buterin warned at Devconnect that quantum computing could break elliptic curve cryptography before the 2028 U.S. presidential election, and urged ETH to transition to quantum-resistant cryptography within the next four years.

ChainCatcher news, blockchain analytics company Elliptic announced that it has received a strategic investment from HSBC, becoming the first industry company to gain support from four global systemically important banks (G-SIBs), with the other three being JPMorgan Chase, Santander, and Wells Fargo.Richard May, Head of Financial Crime at HSBC Group, will join the board of Elliptic. Elliptic stated that this investment will be used to expand the team and the coverage of financial services to meet the growing demand from financial institutions for blockchain transaction monitoring tools. The company's key focus areas include stablecoin regulation, AI-driven compliance tools, and the expansion of blockchain network coverage.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptoslate, Elliptic released a report stating that despite the Huione Guarantee platform in Cambodia being shut down on May 13 due to its involvement in a $27 billion pig-butchering scam, dark market transactions on Telegram have not decreased.Data shows that merchants quickly shifted to the competitor platform Tudou Guarantee, in which Huione holds a 30% stake, and the USDT inflow to this platform has returned to levels seen before Huione's shutdown. On-chain data indicates that after the ban was implemented, Huione's USDT inflow dropped to nearly zero, while the number of users on Tudou Guarantee more than doubled, with inflows comparable to those before Huione's closure.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, blockchain security company Elliptic disclosed that a company registered in Colorado in 2022, Xinbi Co. Ltd, is associated with an illegal online marketplace called "Xinbi Guarantee."This marketplace is based on the Telegram platform and is a Chinese illegal market primarily serving Southeast Asian scammers, having received $8.4 billion in funds to date, mainly in the form of USDT transactions. Merchants on the market provide scammers with technology, personal data, and money laundering services, assisting them in carrying out "pig butchering" scams. Xinbi Guarantee claims to be an "investment and capital guarantee group company," but its status was updated to "delinquent" in January 2025 for failing to submit periodic reports on time. The black market's money laundering service has the largest transaction share and also offers Starlink devices, stolen personal data, and fake IDs.Elliptic states that Xinbi Guarantee is the second-largest illegal online marketplace, with transaction volumes exceeding $1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, and is linked to North Korean hacker money laundering. The $8.4 billion transaction volume may only be the tip of the iceberg of actual trading volume. The platform has 233,000 users and operates under a "guarantee model," yet remains a hotbed for illegal activities. Records from the Colorado state government show that Xinbi Co. Ltd was listed as "in violation" in January 2025 for failing to submit its annual report on time.

ChainCatcher news, according to crowdfundinsider, digital asset company Elliptic announced a partnership with Monerium to provide compliance and anti-money laundering (AML) solutions for the latter's Euro (EURe) stablecoin in accordance with European MiCA regulations.It is reported that this real-time multi-chain compliance system can reduce manual intervention by 60%.

ChainCatcher message, the Slow Mist security team published a disclosure revealing a critical vulnerability (GHSA-vjh7-7g9h-fjfh) found in the widely used elliptic cryptography library.Attackers can extract private keys with just one signature by constructing specific inputs, which may lead to the theft of digital assets or identity credentials. This vulnerability could affect blockchain applications and digital identity systems that rely on this cryptography library.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, blockchain analysis company Elliptic has discovered that North Korean hackers involved in the Bybit hack control over 11,000 cryptocurrency wallets for money laundering.

ChainCatcher news, financial research firm Moody's has announced a strategic alliance with blockchain analytics company Elliptic, aimed at enhancing risk screening for virtual asset service providers (VASPs).Moody's and Elliptic will use on-chain and off-chain data to provide additional background information and risk assessments for financial institutions and businesses. This solution leverages Elliptic's real-time on-chain data to classify the risks of illicit activities in digital asset transactions and integrates it with Moody's off-chain data in a unified risk engine.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, blockchain analysis company Elliptic released a report on Wednesday stating that the Cambodian market Huione Guarantee is suspected of money laundering and other criminal activities.Since its establishment in 2021, Huione and its merchants' crypto wallets have received at least $11 billion, primarily using Tether (USDT) for transactions. Elliptic pointed out that Huione executives are connected to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and claimed that the platform turns a blind eye to crimes such as money laundering and "sexual exploitation." Elliptic has identified and labeled hundreds of cryptocurrency addresses controlled by Huione, helping to prevent further money laundering activities.

ChainCatcher news, according to the official announcement, the world-leading cryptocurrency exchange Gate.io today announced a partnership with blockchain analytics provider Elliptic to comprehensively enhance its compliance management. In this collaboration, Gate.io will integrate Elliptic's blockchain monitoring solutions to further improve its security infrastructure and increase regulatory compliance.Dr. Han Lin, founder and CEO of Gate.io, stated that Elliptic's experience and solutions will further enhance Gate.io's compliance capabilities, assisting Gate.io in continuously strengthening user service quality and improving security, creating a more secure trading environment for users. James Smith, co-founder of Elliptic, believes that the cooperation between the two parties will promote the compliance process of global cryptocurrency exchanges.

ChainCatcher news, blockchain analysis company Elliptic stated that the data used to describe the scale of Hamas's cryptocurrency fundraising has been exaggerated. Since October 7, Hamas has only received $21,000 in new cryptocurrency donations, most of which have been frozen. "The unique traceability of these assets means that the amount raised is still very small compared to other sources of funding."It is reported that Elliptic has contacted The Wall Street Journal and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren regarding the false claims that Hamas raised millions of dollars through cryptocurrency. Previously, she had joined over 100 lawmakers in urging the Biden administration to address the issue of terrorism funding through cryptocurrency.

ChainCatcher news, hosting and tokenization technology provider Taurus announced a partnership with blockchain analytics company Elliptic to provide security and compliance for the market.As part of this collaboration, Taurus will integrate Elliptic's wallet screening tools into its enterprise digital asset custody solution Taurus-PROTECT to manage anti-money laundering and fraud risks, and comply with applicable regulations.

ChainCatcher news, Erin Koen, one of the Uniswap Foundation managers, today initiated a call for proposals in the Uniswap community on "how to allocate approximately 4.4 million ARB." The call for proposals mentions that the tokens will be sent to the DAO's alias address on Arbitrum; how to deploy the allocation needs to go through the normal governance voting process. The proposal period lasts for two weeks (until Wednesday, June 7). At that time, proposals that have received community feedback should be incorporated into a new temperature check post according to the approved governance process. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, blockchain analysis company Elliptic disclosed that several Chinese chemical suppliers selling synthetic opioid fentanyl precursors have received millions in cryptocurrency payments. Among them, 90% of the companies accept cryptocurrency payments, and identified wallets belonging to these chemical suppliers have received over $27 million in cryptocurrency, with the number of transactions in these wallets increasing by an astonishing 450% year-on-year.According to Elliptic, most suppliers accept Bitcoin (BTC) and USDT. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, the trend of layoffs in the crypto industry significantly slowed down in February, with approximately 570 layoffs, a decrease of 80% compared to 2,850 in January.Recent layoffs came from crypto analytics firms Elliptic and Messari, which cut 10% and 15% of their workforce, respectively. At the beginning of February, Chainalysis laid off 44 employees, accounting for 4.8% of its total workforce. Australian cryptocurrency recruiter Neil Dundon stated, "The surge in layoffs is a macro event, occurring not only in the Web3 space but also across the entire tech sector driven by concerns over a prolonged downturn." (source link)