Elliptic

On Tuesday, the US government seized $3.6 billion in bitcoin from the 2016 Bitfinex hack and arrested two individuals, Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, on charges of money laundering. Tom Robinson, cofounder and chief scientist at the blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, breaks down how law enforcement was able to seize the BTC, what techniques the alleged money launderers used to avoid capture, and who could have pulled off the initial hack. Show highlights: background on the 2016 Bitfinex hack who was arrested this week and why  how the US government gained access to the private keys in Lichtenstein’s and Morgan’s control why AlphaBay, a now-defunct darknet website, was crucial to law enforcement’s effort to track down the stolen Bitfinex funds what money laundering techniques were used to cash out the stolen Bitfinex funds before this week’s arrests whether, as blockchain analytics technology advances, it will always catch up to be able to trace the movements of crypto as its laundered  why using Monero, a privacy coin, to cash out stolen funds is a red flag why Tom does not think the two individuals arrested this week for money laundering the stolen Bitfinex funds were the original hackers Become a Premium Bulletin Subscriber! Become a premium subscriber to my Bulletin newsletter, and you’ll get access  to:  a premium-only Discord group   premium-only interviews   the opportunity to ask questions ️  the chance to weigh in on guests for Unchained and  whatever other future offerings we add to the mix The special launch price until February 14 $2.99/mo or $29.99/year. Starting on February 15, the price increases to $4.99/mo or $49.99/year. Join now! Get a Signed Book Plate! Many of you have asked me how you can get a signed copy of the book. Here’s how: Pre-order the book, which you can do at bit.ly/cryptopians. Make a social media post about the book that includes the pre-order link, bit.ly/cryptoptians or to the book on any bookseller of your choice. Send a copy of your receipt to hello@unchainedpodcast.com with the subject line, “signed book plate.” In the email, include a pdf of your receipt + a screenshot of or a link to your social media post + the address to which you’d like me to send the book plate + the nameof who you’d like me to dedicate the book plate to. If you show a pre-order receipt that shows you bought more than one format of the book, such as an audiobook and a hardcover, you can get two signed book plates. Finally, if you sign up for the Bulletin premium subscription plus do all the above to get a signed book plate, you’ll also receive a POAP. Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021  Episode Links Tom Robinson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomarobinson?originalSubdomain=uk  Twitter: https://twitter.com/tomrobin  Information on the Bitfinex hack + arrest: DOJ Information: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-arrested-alleged-conspiracy-launder-45-billion-stolen-cryptocurrency  https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1470211/download  Elliptic Coverage: https://www.elliptic.co/blog/elliptic-analysis-new-york-husband-and-wife-arrested-for-laundering-5-billion-in-bitcoin-stolen-from-bitfinex-in-2016  Unchained Coverage: https://unchainedpodcast.com/feds-seize-3-6-billion-in-btc-connected-to-bitfinex-hack/ CoinDesk coverage https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/02/08/us-officials-seize-bitcoin-from-2016-bitfinex-hack/  Decrypt: https://decrypt.co/92529/bitfinex-billion-bitcoin-who-keeps-it  The Defiant: https://thedefiant.io/bitfinex-leo-surge/ Bitfinex statement:  https://www.bitfinex.com/posts/766  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tom Robinson

Co-founder

MetabaseElliptic

Jess Symington, research lead at Elliptic, a blockchain forensics company, discusses the massive upswing in DeFi hacks during 2021, resulting in over $10 billion of DeFi value lost. Show topics: the state of crime in DeFi how much value has been lost to exploits whether the majority of hacks are the result of user or developer error the various types of exploits how to confirm when a project did, in fact, rug pull which blockchains are most susceptible to having exploits what has been happening recently in ransomware how DeFi hackers cash out why ransomware attackers, who usually request payment in Bitcoin, have a tougher time cashing out than DeFi hackers  whether hackers trend towards a specific profile/demographics  how easy it is for law enforcement to find hackers  whether blockchain’s transparency is proving to be a helpful tool for regulators Jess’s advice on how to prevent hacks for both protocols and users   Thank you to our sponsors! Avado: ava.do Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021    Nodle: https://bit.ly/3AXGydJ      Episode Links   Elliptic Website: https://www.elliptic.co/  Blog: https://www.elliptic.co/blog    Hack Coverage Elliptic Research DeFi: Risk, Regulation and the Rise of DeCrime: https://www.elliptic.co/resources/defi-risk-regulation-and-the-rise-of-decrime https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/14/common-defi-crypto-related-scams-and-how-to-protect-your-wallet.html  https://cryptobriefing.com/elliptic-estimates-12b-lost-to-defi-exploits/  Rekt Leaderboard (giving a dollar figure for recent hacks along with a summary of what happened) https://rekt.news/leaderboard/    Unchained Podcast on Ransomware https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-ransomware-evolved-into-a-big-business/    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jess Symington

Research Lead

Elliptic

Yaya Fanusie, director of analysis at the Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and Tom Robinson, chief data officer and cofounder of blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, discuss how common money laundering is in crypto, how jihadist groups are using it, and how privacy coins (really Monero) affect their work. (The reason why the dark markets haven't much used Zcash surprised me.) We also discuss bad state actors using cryptocurrency, such as Venezuela's efforts with the metro and North Korea's alleged Bitcoin ransomware attacks, and how, leaving aside bad state actors, central bank cryptocurrencies would compete with decentralized ones. Plus, we discuss what impact OFAC blocked addresses list will have. Thank you to our sponsors! Preciate: https://preciate.org Quantstamp: https://quantstamp.com Yaya Fanusie: https://twitter.com/SignCurve Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/csif Tom Robinson: https://twitter.com/tomrobin    Elliptic: http://www.elliptic.co Yaya and Tom's report on Bitcoin laundering: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/content/uploads/documents/MEMO_Bitcoin_Laundering.pdf New AML regulations on cryptocurrencies in Europe: https://www.elliptic.co/our-thinking/5th-aml-directive-eu-regulation-cryptocurrency Money laundering in ICOs: https://www.elliptic.co/our-thinking/ico-risk-why-aml-compliance-matters Yaya's op-ed on the Venezuelan metro in CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-investors-stay-away-venezuelas-petro/ Russia's blockchain plans: http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/technology/346476-blockchain-technology-may-give-russia-its-next-sputnik-moment What jihadists are doing with crypto assets: https://www.thecipherbrief.com/article/exclusive/international/terrorist-networks-eye-bitcoin-cryptocurrencys-price-rises https://www.thecipherbrief.com/column/private-sector/the-new-frontier-in-terror-fundraising-bitcoin Yaya's essay on self-policing in CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-community-must-use-blockchain-self-police/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yaya Fanusie

Crypto Policy Researcher

Center for a New American SecurityFoundation for Defense of Democracies

Tom Robinson

Co-founder

MetabaseElliptic

Sameer Al-Sakran and Tom Robinson from Metabase joined the show to discuss Metabase - their open source tool that’s laying the foundation of their goals for open source business intelligence. Join the discussion Changelog++ members support our work, get closer to the metal, and make the ads disappear. Join today! Sponsors: Codeship – If it works with Docker, it works with Codeship Jet. Toptal – Apply for a $5,000 STEM scholarship - Toptal supports aspiring female computer scientists, developers, and software engineers to achieve their goals via financial support and mentorship by top professional developers and designers. Harvest – Simple online time tracking software. DigitalOcean – Use the code CHANGELOG to get a $10 hosting credit when you create a new DigitalOcean account Featuring: Sameer Al-Sakran – Website, GitHub, X Tom Robinson – Website, GitHub, X Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X Jerod Santo – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X Show Notes: Metabase metabase/metabase Metabase Discussion Maslow’s hierarchy of needs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 280 North, Inc. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Objective-J - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Cappuccino (application development framework) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia AWS | Amazon Redshift - Cloud Data Warehouse Solutions Justin Dorfman: @metabase looks awesome, can’t wait to try it out. How do you plan to sustain it? Will there be a pro version? Jeff Dean (computer scientist) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Carmack - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia TensorFlow The Changelog #149: React.js, React Native, Flux, Relay, and GraphQL with Facebook The Changelog #171: Living Clojure, ClojureScript, and more with Carin Meier Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!

Sameer Al-Sakran

Co-founder

Metabase

Tom Robinson

Co-founder

MetabaseElliptic