Finland has learned to analyze anonymous cryptocurrency transactions

The Finnish news channel MTV Uutiset reported that the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation managed to track transactions using the confidential cryptocurrency Monero (XMR).

Journalists of MTV Crime Reporters of MTV Uutiset channel reported, citing the statement of regional prosecutor Pasi Vainio, that KRP experts managed to track transactions using XMR and identify its final recipient. Before that, Monero was considered an «untraceable cryptocurrency».

During the investigation of a high-profile criminal case of identity theft in a Finnish psychiatric clinic and extortion of cryptocurrency as a payment for silence, it was found that XMRs were transferred to the personal accounts of Julius Kivimäki, who lives in Estonia.

The head of the KRP investigation team, Marko Leposena, said that the task of identifying the attacker was not easy, as transfers of funds in the Monero blockchain are not public, and the built-in functions are designed to make tracking as difficult as possible.

However, KRP experts successfully coped with this task. Leposena refused to provide journalists with specific details of the investigation, explaining that this information is classified as it concerns technical police methods.

As a reminder, in 2023, gaming equipment manufacturer Razer suffered from a customer data leak. Subsequently, a hacker forum posted an offer to sell them for $ 100,000 in XMR cryptocurrency.