Exmo’s Russian Exit? On-Chain Evidence Might Tell a Different Story
In April 2022, London-based exchange Exmo.com announced it had “exited” Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, claiming to have sold its local operations to a separate entity, Exmo.me.
The split was widely covered in outlets like Cointelegraph and reinforced in Exmo’s own blog posts, which stated that the two platforms became “completely separate.”
But recent findings by independent investigator Richard Sanders tell a different story. By examining Ripple ledger deposit addresses for both Exmo.com and Exmo.me, Sanders found they matched - a strong indication that the platforms are still operating from the same internal wallet infrastructure.
If true, the discovery raises questions about Exmo’s compliance claims, particularly as regulators across Europe and the U.S. continue to crack down on exchanges providing services to sanctioned jurisdictions.
$48M Gone: Investigators Trace Multi-Chain Flow in BtcTurk Breach
Turkish crypto exchange BtcTurk have fallen victim to a major breach, with on-chain investigators estimating around $48 million drained across more than 90 tokens. According to Blockscope and Cyvers, the attack pattern suggests a hot wallet compromise or insider access, with funds rapidly consolidated into ETH and moved across multiple EVM chains, including Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, and Mantle. BtcTurk acknowledged “unusual activity” on Aug. 14 and temporarily halted deposits and withdrawals, though local fiat operations and trading remain active. The exchange has assured users that its cold wallets remain secure and that the majority of customer assets are unaffected. For now, multiple investigator dashboards are actively tracking the stolen funds across networks, as the investigation unfolds.
Beacon Network: TRM’s Big Bet on Real-Time Crypto Crime Response
TRM Labs has unveiled the Beacon Network, a real-time crypto crime response platform promising to transform how the industry tackles hacks and fraud. With founding members like Coinbase, Binance, PayPal, Robinhood, Ripple, and Kraken, the initiative brings together major exchanges, stablecoin issuers, and law enforcement partners. Beacon offers real-time tracing, instant alerts, and coordinated rapid response to freeze illicit funds before they can be laundered. While the scale and collaboration are unprecedented, some in the community question whether this is a true paradigm shift or simply polished marketing, pointing to previous initiatives like T3. Still, Beacon’s automated, open, and free approach for verified entities could signal a step toward a more proactive and united front in crypto security. Whether it leads to systemic improvements or not, one thing is clear: criminals now have less time to hide.
More weekly top stories:
INTERPOL dismantles cybercrime and fraud networks across Africa in Operation Serengeti 2.0
Bybit exploit six months on: Novel laundering tactics, techniques and procedures and the looming threat of DPRK
See you next week!
