How Criminals Used Anime NFTs To Launder $28 Million Bittensor Hack
According to a brand new investigation, criminals behind the Bittensor hack laundered some cash with anime NFTs. This was solely a small portion of the entire stolen cash, but it surely proved very tough to trace.
Although it has just a few drawbacks, this system might frustrate crypto’s finest sleuths. A former Opentensor engineer could have been concerned within the scheme, however ZachXBT isn’t sure.
NFTs Laundering Hack Money
The crypto crime wave of 2025 has naturally included an increase in sophisticated money laundering techniques, serving to hackers disguise their ill-gotten beneficial properties.
However, they could be getting even higher. According to a brand new investigation from ZachXBT, NFTs had been used to launder proceeds from the $28 million Bittensor hack:
The Bittensor hack took place in mid-2024, inflicting a whole lot of hassle for the decentralized AI improvement agency. The firm, for its half, has been rebuilding quite well for the time being, but the hackers remained at giant. Apparently, a part of that is due to their new laundering strategies.
The sleuth had greater than sufficient difficulty de-anonymizing classical laundering strategies like Railgun and other privacy tumblers. However, the perpetrators of this hack spent over $100,000 on anime NFTs, making the path even colder.
Scandals and Uncertainty
The investigation included many fascinating and scandalous items of circumstantial proof. For instance, a former engineer from the inspiration that stewards Bittensor was implicated within the laundering.
This particular person could have deployed an NFT presale that accepted hacked funds. Still, this isn’t sure.
ZachXBT called this tactic “extraordinarily uncommon,” and famous that he couldn’t definitively accuse some NFT holders of the hack. Although in his opinion, “the connection between every handle is simply too coincidental,” there’s evidently nonetheless slightly ambiguity.
And this, thoughts you, comes from one among crypto’s most outstanding on-chain sleuths.
Imagine, then, how effectively beleaguered law enforcement officials might react to this innovation. NFT information continues to be recorded on a blockchain, but it surely’s taken a top-level tracker a chronic investigation to seek out some hack suspects.
He isn’t even sure of the findings.
This was a small-scale experiment. Criminals stole $28 million within the Bittensor hack, however apparently laundered lower than $1 million by way of anime NFTs. Nonetheless, if it catches on, this system might develop into an enormous drawback.
Hackers are already learning from each other sooner than the crimefighters can. If criminals use NFTs to launder stolen cash, they might develop into unattainable to trace.
The publish How Criminals Used Anime NFTs To Launder $28 Million Bittensor Hack appeared first on BeInCrypto.
