TechFlow news, on February 24, cryptocurrency data analytics firm Bitrace issued a warning that following the $1.5 billion hack of Bybit, a large-scale freezing wave targeting OTC groups and crypto payment companies will occur in the coming months.
According to Bitrace research, apart from using permissionless industry infrastructure to launder funds, the hacking group also heavily relies on centralized platforms for dumping stolen assets. This has directly led to risk controls being triggered on numerous exchange accounts—both intentionally and unintentionally receiving illicit funds—and the business addresses of OTC traders and payment institutions being frozen by Tether (USDt).
After Japan's DMM exchange was hacked in 2024, attackers transferred $600 million to payment processor HuionePay, resulting in $29 million in its hot wallet being frozen. In 2023, Poloniex suffered an attack causing losses exceeding $100 million; hackers laundered funds through over-the-counter transactions, severely disrupting operations for many OTC merchants.
