Europol Arrests 14 Cryptocurrency Money Laundering Group Members

Europol Arrests 14 Cryptocurrency Money Laundering Group Members

We are talking about the QQAAZZ group, which, according to the US Department of Justice, has been operating since 2016 and has connections with the largest hacker groups that spread ransomware viruses. Among them are the groups behind the botnets Dridex, Trickbot and GozNym. QQAAZZ used Russian-language hacker forums to advertise its services.

To carry out their activities, the members of the group used a large network of bank accounts, dummies and fake companies. Funds were transferred to these bank accounts, moved multiple times between different accounts, and then transferred to cryptocurrency and sent to hackers.

The QQAAZZ management was mainly engaged in communicating with customers, the middle tier hired couriers, and couriers, if necessary, cashed money at ATMs. For its services, the group took from 40% to 50% of the amount of the laundered funds.

As part of the international operation "2BaGoldMule" Europol conducted searches in 40 households located in Latvia, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Spain and Italy. More than 20 arrests have been made. Also in October 2019, five more QQAAZZ members were arrested in Latvia.

Luxury watch maker has transferred certificates of authenticity to Ethereum blockchain

Swiss luxury watchmaker Breitling has offered its customers digital certificates of authenticity.

The company is collaborating with the Arianee project using the Ethereum blockchain. All new watches will receive a unique digital certificate - it contains the serial number of the product and the date of warranty activation.

The document is stored in an encrypted electronic wallet. Breitling noted that the certificate is not tied to the owner's name, mail or other personal data.

This is not the first time large companies have turned to blockchain technology. For example, the Korean division of the BMW carmaker will launch a loyalty system on the blockchain - the points earned by the program participants can be spent on goods or discounts.

BMW loyalty program, electric vehicle charging networks and other blockchain initiatives

The Monero network has received a major update. Chainalysis considers the XMR threat overdone

Oxygen Orion is expected to bring significant improvements to various aspects of Monero's functioning. The main feature of the update is the implementation of Compact Linkable Arbitrary Anonymous Groups (CLSAG). CLSAG is an enhanced version of MLSAG, Monero's ring signature scheme. According to a blog post, CLSAG will reduce transaction sizes by 25% and confirm confirmation times by 10% while maintaining privacy.

Monero updates are carried out using hard forks, so it is important for users to have an up-to-date version of the software. The same applies to those who store cryptocurrency in a hardware wallet. They need to install the latest firmware, the developers note.

Shortly before that, they announced the collection of sufficient funding to implement atomic swaps on the Monero blockchain, which in the long term will make it easier to move assets between different chains, including Bitcoin.

Michael Gronager, CEO of cryptanalytic company Chainalysis, meanwhile, claims that Monero and similar private cryptocurrencies have a "limited future." Chainalysis previously contracted with the IRS to develop tools for tracking Monero transactions.

“Private coins are a very interesting technology. If we consider the areas of their application, which include the interests of criminal syndicates, we need liquidity and distribution, we need users. This is true for Bitcoin because it has liquidity. Monero and Zcash are niche in nature and cannot be used for large-scale criminal activities. This is not an issue to worry about in the long term, ”he said.