US Seizes Crypto Domains Tied to $2.5 Billion in Illicit Transactions

The U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday it seized domains linked to three crypto exchanges accused of facilitating more than $2.5 billion in illicit transactions as part of a coordinated crackdown on Russian money laundering operations.

The DOJ, working with the Treasury Department, Secret Service, and international law enforcement partners, unsealed an indictment against Russian national Sergey Ivanov, according to a statement.

Ivanov, also known as “Taleon,” is accused of operating several money laundering services that catered to cybercriminals, including ransomware groups and darknet drug traffickers.

U.S. authorities also indicted Russian national Timur Shakhmametov, or "JokerStash," accusing him of running Joker’s Stash, one of the largest carding websites in history, which sold stolen payment card data.

Ivanov allegedly operated crypto exchanges such as UAPS, PinPays, and PM2BTC, which processed roughly $1.15 billion in digital asset transactions. 

Blockchain analysis conducted by the authorities revealed that 32% of Bitcoin handled by the exchanges were tied to criminal activity, including over $158 million in fraud and more than $8.8 million from ransomware payments.

In conjunction with U.S. actions, Dutch authorities seized the servers hosting PM2BTC and Cryptex, recovering more than $7 million in crypto, the Justice Department alleged.

Cryptex, another crypto exchange tied to money laundering, facilitated transactions worth $1.4 billion, of which 31% were linked to criminal conduct, according to the indictment.

The U.S. Secret Service obtained court authorization to seize the domains of UAPS, PM2BTC, and Cryptex. Visitors to the sites now see a government notice indicating the seizures.

“Today's actions highlight the Department’s continued disruption of malicious cyber actors and their criminal ecosystem,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in the statement. “The two Russian nationals charged today allegedly pocketed millions of dollars from prolific money laundering."

Ivanov is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit and aiding and abetting bank fraud for providing payment processing services to the carding website Rescator. He's also charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering for handling proceeds from Joker’s Stash.

The U.S. Treasury also sanctioned Ivanov and Cryptex, while the State Department offered rewards of up to $11 million for information leading to the arrest of those involved.