The U.S. Cracked a $3.4 Billion Crypto Heist and Bitcoin s Anonymity – WSJ

When bitcoins are stolen, the criminal is now like a guy that robbed a bank in the snow, said Matthew Price, a former IRS investigator who now runs investigations for cryptocurrency exchange Binance Inc. The criminal s name might be unknown, he said, but digital breadcrumbs, like footprints in the snow, remain for authorities to follow.

Federal investigators have used blockchain-tracing techniques to shut down a child-pornography website, disrupt funding for terrorist organizations and, in the Justice Department s largest-ever financial seizure, retrieved $3.6 billion from a New York couple charged with laundering the proceeds of the 2016 hack of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. With each case, more accounts are added to the government s blockchain address book. 

These advances make it difficult for criminals to convert their spoils to cash. After government officials publish wallet addresses connected to crooks, no legitimate cryptocurrency exchange wants to do business with them, fearing legal consequences. 

Last year, a group that U.S. officials linked to North Korea stole about $720 million by hacking two cryptocurrency services Harmony s Horizon Bridge and Sky Mavis s Ronin Network. In February, the FBI published a list of wallet addresses linked to the $100 million Horizon Bridge theft, effectively stonewalling hackers from withdrawing cash through legitimate exchanges. 

via www.wsj.com

A couple of things. If I had billions in stolen crypto, I would not hang around in Atlanta waiting for the Feds to show up. Also, I don’t understand how they tracked Zhong down.