I recently read an intriguing article from Binance explaining how they helped the Royal Thai Police to dismantle criminal networks. As Thailand is not the only country where there are criminal networks, I searched for additional information on other criminal networks and the countries where they are.
Here are some examples of the biggest crypto criminal networks:
- Hydra: Hydra is a Russian darknet marketplace that was shut down in April 2022. It was the world's largest illegal marketplace, and it was used to sell drugs, weapons, and other illegal goods and services. Hydra used cryptocurrencies to launder money and evade law enforcement.
- Finiko: Finiko is a Russian Ponzi scheme that was shut down in July 2021. It raised over $4 billion from investors, and it promised high returns on investment. However, Finiko was a fraud, and it used cryptocurrencies to steal money from investors.
- Wotoken: Wotoken is a Chinese Ponzi scheme that was shut down in June 2021. It raised over $1 billion from investors, and it promised high returns on investment. However, Wotoken was a fraud, and it used cryptocurrencies to steal money from investors.
- Silk Road: Silk Road was a darknet marketplace operating from the U.S. that was shut down in October 2013. It was the first major darknet marketplace, and it was used to sell drugs, weapons, and other illegal goods and services. Silk Road used Bitcoin to launder money and evade law enforcement.
- AlphaBay: AlphaBay was a darknet marketplace operating from Netherlands that was shut down in July 2017. It was the largest darknet marketplace at the time, and it was used to sell drugs, weapons, and other illegal goods and services. AlphaBay used Bitcoin to launder money and evade law enforcement.
- Hansa: Hansa was a darknet marketplace operating from Germany that was shut down in June 2017. It was the third largest darknet marketplace at the time, and it was used to sell drugs, weapons, and other illegal goods and services. Hansa used Bitcoin to launder money and evade law enforcement.
These are just a few examples of the many crypto criminal networks that have been dismantled in recent years. These criminal networks were a bit basic. Some new criminal networks are more sophisticated since they use DeFi to steal money. Therefore, it is crucial to protect your funds from them by using self-custody wallets like Ledger.
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