Crypto: Market Why Privacy Coins Often Appear In Post-hack Fund Flows

Following a hack, scammers don’t usually send stolen assets directly to an exchange for immediate liquidation; instead, they follow a deliberate, multi-stage process to obscure the trail and slow down the inquiry:

Consolidation: Funds from multiple victim addresses are transferred to a smaller number of wallets.

Obfuscation: Assets are shuffled through chains of intermediary crypto wallets, often with the help of crypto mixers.

Chain-hopping: Funds are bridged or swapped to different blockchains, breaking continuity within any single network’s tracking tools.

Cash-out: Assets are eventually exchanged for more liquid cryptocurrencies or fiat through centralized exchanges, over-the-counter (OTC) desks or peer-to-peer (P2P) channels.

In the aftermath of the theft, scammers try to delay identification or evade automated address blacklisting by exchanges and services. The sudden drop in visibility is particularly valuable in the critical days after theft when monitoring is most intense.

Many laundering paths involve informal OTC brokers or P2P traders who operate outside extensively regulated exchanges.

Did you know? Some darknet marketplaces now list prices in Monero by default, even if they still accept Bitcoin, because vendors prefer not to reveal their income patterns or customer volume.

While tactical specifics vary, blockchain analysts generally identify several high-level “red flags” in illicit fund flows:

Layering and consolidation: Rapid dispersal of assets across a vast network of wallets, followed by strategic reaggregation to simplify the final exit.

Source: CoinTelegraph