How 2022 Crypto Sanctions Affected Crypto Crime

Based in Russia, Hydra not only facilitated drug sales, but also offered money laundering services to cybercriminals, including ransomware attackers. On-chain data shows that each of the three sanctioned services were affected differently by their designations. Digging deeper into these aggregate inflow patterns, we also see that different types of counterparties reacted differently to each service’s sanctions designation. These other illicit services help to establish a revenue baseline for the two months following each money laundering service’s sanctions designation. It’s important to keep in mind that the graph above shows only the average estimated change in revenue for counterparties of sanctioned money laundering services.