For some people, the cryptocurrency exchange is a great opportunity to earn, while for others it is used for money laundering. According to the investigation published by the Wall Street Journal, dirty money close to $100 million was laundered through 46 cryptocurrency exchanges. Over the past two years, at least $9 million related to illegal activities has been stolen only through the ShapeShift platform. This was possible as the exchange allowed users to trade in an anonymous manner.
This is so far the largest amount of money that has ever been laundered through one exchange in the United States. ShapeShift stated that the investigation was inaccurate and misleading, but at the same time introduced new rules requiring user registration and verification.
The authors of the investigation traced the cash flows of more than 2,500 cryptocurrency wallets, allegedly associated with illegal activities, and found that $88.6 million had been stolen through the digital currency exchanges.
