Beheading Hydra: How online criminal markets evade the law

Will the Ukraine war lead to more cryptocurrencies being used to evade sanctions?

At least 13 per cent of all proceeds of crime in Bitcoin are said to have been sent through privacy wallets in 2020, up from just 2 per cent the year before. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: UNSPLASH
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Last week, following a tip-off, the German authorities seized US$25 million (S$34 million) in Bitcoin as they shut down Hydra, considered to be the world's largest Dark Web market peddling in narcotics, stolen credit card data, counterfeit currencies and fake passports.

The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control also announced sanctions against Hydra and the crypto exchange Garantex, which operates out of Moscow and St Petersburg.

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