Ransomware Actors are Using Crypto Mining Pools to Launder Money

According to a recent analysis by the blockchain forensic company Chainalysis, the use of cryptocurrency mining as a technique to improve money laundering skills extends beyond nation state actors and has particular appeal to regular criminals.

As per reports, sanctioned nation-states like Iran have turned to cryptocurrency mining as a way to amass money away from the traditional banking system. In a recent development, cybersecurity firm Mandiant also disclosed how the Lazarus Group, a notorious North Korean hacker group, has been utilising stolen cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to buy freshly-mined cryptocurrency through hashing rental and cloud mining services.

Simply explained, online criminals mine “clean” coins using stolen crypto and then utilise different businesses to launder them.

One of these sites, according to Chainalysis, is an unnamed “mainstream exchange” that has been acknowledged as having received “substantial funds” from wallets and mining pools connected to ransomware activity.

In total, $94.2 million was sent to one

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