Bitcoin Heist Spurs Monero Surge, Lazarus Ruled Out

A major theft of 3,520 Bitcoin (about $330.7 million) led to the rapid laundering of these funds through several instant exchanges and their conversion into Monero (XMR), causing XMR's price to surge by up to 50% and reaching multi-year highs. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT flagged the suspicious transfer and dismissed claims that North Korea's Lazarus Group was involved, instead pointing to independent hackers. The incident highlighted Monero's strong anonymity features, but experts note that most illicit crypto activity still relies on mainstream cryptocurrencies due to privacy coins' liquidity issues and delistings. Record trading volumes were observed for XMR, and other privacy tokens also experienced notable gains following the heist. Upcoming Monero protocol upgrades aimed at greater compliance could impact its future exchange availability. Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies are developing new methods to trace transactions involving privacy coins.