Onchain sleuth ZachXBT has flagged a suspicious transfer involving 3,520 Bitcoin (BTC) (valued at $330.7 million) that may indicate a major theft. The transaction, reported on April 28, saw funds moved from a potential victim’s wallet to the address bc1qcry…vz55g.

Following the transfer, the stolen stash was quickly laundered through over six instant exchanges and swapped into privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero (XMR).

The large-scale conversion led to a sharp 50% spike in XMR’s price, with the token reaching an intraday high of $339, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Source: ZachXBT

At the time of writing, XMR has settled slightly but remains up 25% in the past 24 hours, trading at $289.

When asked whether North Korea’s Lazarus Group was behind the attack, ZachXBT dismissed the theory, stating it was “highly probable it’s not,” suggesting independent hackers were responsible.

Related: Kraken to end Monero support in European Economic Area

Vast majority of hackers use mainstream cryptos

In a recent comment to Cointelegraph, Chainalysis noted that most criminal transactions still rely on mainstream cryptocurrencies.

“While there are concerns of more criminals moving to privacy coins for anonymity, the vast majority of criminal activity still uses mainstream cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoins,” Chainalysis said.

The firm added that these assets remain attractive because they offer the same benefits to bad actors as they do to legitimate users — cross-border functionality, instant settlement, and high liquidity.

Chainalysis noted that privacy coins pose limitations for criminals due to reduced liquidity and the fact that many major exchanges have delisted assets like Monero.

“Cryptocurrency is only useful if you can buy and sell goods and services or cash out into fiat, and that is much more difficult with privacy coins, especially as many mainstream exchanges have offboarded the use of privacy coins, such as Monero,” they explained.

The firm even said that blockchain transparency allows law enforcement to trace and recover illicit funds, regardless of the cryptocurrency used.

In 2024, a leaked Chainalysis video suggested that Monero transactions could be traceable despite the privacy-preserving nature of the blockchain.

The video reportedly showed how Chainalysis could track transactions back to 2021 via its own “malicious” Monero nodes.

Related: The IRS offers a $625,000 bounty to anyone who can break Monero and Lightning Network

Monero accepted at Spar stores in Switzerland

The suspected laundering operation comes as Monero is gaining wider retail acceptance. Two Spar supermarket locations in Switzerland recently began accepting XMR for payments.

The announcement, shared by Monero’s official X account, credits partnerships with DFX Swiss and OpenCryptoPay for enabling the integration.

One user, posting on April 25, shared their experience of purchasing organic cacao using XMR at a Spar store in Kreuzlingen.

User paying for goods with Monero. Souce: Schmidt

In April 2025, Spar first tapped into the crypto market by introducing Bitcoin payments through the Lightning Network at outlets in Zug, Switzerland.

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Cryptocurrency services platform Nexo announced that it is reentering the US market after facing previous regulatory challenges.

According to an April 28 announcement, Nexo’s reentry event featured Donald Trump Jr., who said that he thinks “crypto is the future of finance,” adding:

“We see the opportunity for the financial sector and want to ensure we bring that back to the US.”

Trump Jr. also emphasized the need for a regulatory environment that supports the cryptocurrency industry. He said that “the key to everything crypto is going to be the regulatory framework.”

Source: Nexo

Related: Coinbase presses to axe rule banning SEC staff from holding crypto

Nexo is back to fight where it lost

Nexo left the US at the end of 2022, citing a lack of regulatory clarity as the reason behind the decision. At the beginning of 2023, the firm agreed to pay a $45 million settlement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its failure to register the offer and sale of securities of its interest-earning product.

A month after settling with US regulators, Nexo also decided to shut down its interest-earning product to US-based customers. The product allowed users to earn daily compounding yields on certain cryptocurrencies by loaning them to Nexo.

In late 2022, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation also filed a desist and refrain order against the same interest-earning product managed by Nexo. The regulator claimed that the product was an unqualified security, meaning a security that the government has not approved for sale in the form of an investment contract.

Related: US crypto rules like ‘floor is lava’ game without lights — Hester Peirce

US SEC dances to a different tune now

The US SEC, once viewed as the crypto industry’s primary regulatory obstacle, recently appointed Paul Atkins as chair.

The change was positively commented on by crypto entrepreneurs, with Michael Saylor, the CEO of top corporate Bitcoin holder Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), saying:

“SEC Chairman Paul Atkins will be good for Bitcoin.”

James Gernetzke, chief financial officer of Bitcoin and crypto wallet Exodus, said that “the promise of being able to engage with a regulator on a reasonable basis is going to be very helpful.”

Nexo declined to comment further on its return to the US market.

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