Gambling companies used to launder funds from Twitter hack

The recent high-profile hack of Twitter saw many of the platform’s biggest names suddenly posting that users could profit by sending them digital currency. A blockchain forensics firm has revealed that at least some of the funds gained from this scam may have been laundered through gambling sites.

After analyzing the wallet addresses posted by the hacked Twitter accounts, which included former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, as well as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, CypherTrace determined that a total of 13.1364 BTC ($144 thousand) was sent to the hackers’ accounts.

Of that amount, they were able to trace 0.018 BTC, or roughly $200, to a digital currency gambling site, where they attempted to launder and cash out the funds. However, they also used a technique called a ‘peel chain’ to launder the funds they received, which involves sending the money around to several wallets, before depositing them to casino sites. It’s believed as much as 0.2 BTC ($2,192) was processed in this fashion.

While advocated for BTC often promote its ability to keep users anonymous, nothing could be further from the truth. Law enforcement authorities and firms like CypherTrace can use the inherent auditing powers of the blockchain to follow the money and eventually catch the hackers. But in the meantime, that doesn’t do much for gambling operators who must adhere to stringent anti-money laundering (AML) requirements. And if those funds are frozen, the operator is stuck.