- Elliptic launched a new analytics tool to monitor crypto movement across blockchains.
- This will combat the risks associated with the anonymity of cross-chain bridges.
- The tool, Holistic Screening will track and trace all blockchains and assets for anti-money laundering activities.
Criminals in the cryptocurrency sector frequently launder money by transferring digital assets across blockchains, avoiding a centralized service that can track and freeze transactions. In yet another such crime, fraudsters stole crypto worth $1.2 billion from the bridges, according to data from Elliptic, a London-based blockchain analysis firm.
After hackers robbed $190 million from the US crypto firm Nomad last week, making it the seventh bridge hack of the year, sleuths from Elliptic came up with a solution to combat such scams. In this regard, they launched a new risk analytics tool to monitor and analyze the movement of cryptocurrencies across several blockchains.
With the hacking amount doubling from last year’s total, Immunefi’s data demonstrates that Q2 of 2022 has witnessed more than $670.69 million worth of funds being stolen from the blockchain ecosystem. This concerned crypto businesses and financial institutions.
Known for helping such crypto businesses and financial institutions to adhere to AML (Anti-Money Laundering), CTF (Counter-Terrorism Financing), and sanctions compliance requirements since 2013, Elliptic extended its services through the newly launched tool named Holistic Screening.
The Holistic Screening will monitor and track the activities every time a user moves their cryptocurrencies from one blockchain to another using a bridge. This will help many crypto firms and financial institutes that engage in cross-chain transactions stay compliant.
Another blockchain analytics company, Chainalyis, calculates that cross-chain bridges alone are responsible for almost $2 billion of such embezzlement. Elliptic claims that in order to circumvent sanctions, these stolen cryptocurrency assets are frequently laundered using cross-chain DeFi products (such as bridges and decentralized exchanges) and mixer services.
Understanding the complete risk exposure of all transactions given to an institution across all assets is the holy grail of the “risk-based strategy” mandated by global financial crime regulators, revealed Elliptic’s CEO, Simone Maine. She further stated:
Elliptic’s new Holistic Screening approach enables crypto compliance teams to meet and exceed this goal, and to know exactly where their risk exposure is, delivering a new standard in blockchain analytics. This means institutions can make better decisions, faster.
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