The peer-to-peer exchange Bitzlato is registered in Hong Kong, but according to US law enforcement, the exchange remains closely linked to Russia.. In addition, it was the Bitzlato service that was one of the main ones for laundering money from the Hydra market on the darknet.. The U.S. Department of Justice claims that over $700 million in illegal transactions have been conducted through the service.
The information is partially confirmed by the Chainalisys report dated February 2022. At that time, analysts wrote that the service received assets worth $206 million from darknet markets, another $224.5 million was processed in the form of transactions from various cryptocurrency scams, and assets worth $9 million were transferred by hackers.
“We have been working with key partners both in the US and abroad to take down China-based money laundering service Bitzlato.. He fueled cryptocurrency criminals. If you violate our laws or harm our financial system, whether you are in China, Europe or a tropical island, you will answer for your crimes in a US court,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
Recall that yesterday, representatives of the site stated that the service was hacked, but the hackers managed to withdraw only a small amount of funds, so the work of the exchanger will be restored soon.