European Union regulators are reportedly wanting right into a service provided by crypto change OKX that will have performed a job in the laundering of $100 million in funds from the Bybit hack, in accordance with Bloomberg.
A March 11 Bloomberg report citing folks acquainted with the matter claims that nationwide watchdogs from the EU’s member states mentioned the problem throughout a March 6 assembly hosted by the European Securities and Markets Authority’s Digital Finance Standing Committee. The problem seems to be OKX’s decentralized finance platform and pockets service.
On Jan. 27, OKX introduced that it had secured a full Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license to function throughout all EU member states beneath a unified regulatory framework. The query for EU regulators is whether or not two OKX providers fall beneath the MiCA framework and, if that’s the case, whether or not the change might be penalized.
According to Bybit CEO Ben Zhou, almost $100 million, or 40,233 Ether (ETH), from the $1.5 billion hack had been laundered by means of OKX’s Web3 proxy, with a portion of the funds now untraceable.
OKX’s pockets service has reached 53 million addresses and is in a position to connect with 100 blockchains. Totally decentralized platforms may be exempt from MiCA regulation, however in accordance with the Bloomberg report, regulators from no less than Austria and Croatia stated OKX’s Web3 service ought to fall beneath EU guidelines.
Associated: Bybit hacker launders 100% of stolen $1.4B crypto in 10 days
OKX denies EU investigation
In a press release posted to X, OKX refuted the declare there have been any ongoing investigations by the EU, including that “Bybit’s statements are spreading misinformation” and defending its Web3 pockets providers.
Supply: OKX
Haider Rafique, OKX International’s chief advertising and marketing officer, added his personal take: “We spoke to Bloomberg at present and supplied our assertion refuting a few of the alleged claims. It’s preposterous to counsel that WE as an organization could be concerned in laundering stolen funds.”
The theft of $1.5 billion in ETH and ETH-related tokens from Bybit is the most important crypto hack so far. Crypto investigators have stated that the Lazarus Group, a North Korean hacking ring, was responsible for the attack. In keeping with Zhou, who declared war on the Lazarus Group after the hack, 3% of the stolen funds have been frozen, whereas 20% have gone dark.
Journal: Lazarus Group’s favorite exploit revealed — Crypto hacks analysis
Cointelegraph by Christopher Tepedino EU watchdogs scrutinizing OKX over $100M in Bybit laundered funds: Report cointelegraph.com 2025-03-11 19:58:04
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