Bitcoin Daily: Bitcoin Falls To Lowest Price In Two Weeks; Hackers Use WEX Exchange To Launder Bitcoin

Bitcoin has had its ups and downs over the last few weeks. Right now, it’s on a down, with prices falling as much as 2.5 percent on Monday (March 4) — its lowest level in two weeks. According to MarketWatch, a single bitcoin on Monday was selling for $3,714.60, down 1.9 percent since Sunday’s (March 3) level at 5:00 p.m. on the Kraken exchange. The crypto traded at an intraday low of $3,673.50, which is the lowest it’s been since Feb. 18. Crypto Analyst Willy Woo explained that, since it is currently a bear market, bitcoin’s value could decline even further.

“The last time the market was more indecisive was at the start of 2018. Zones of minimal [Long/Short] positioning have historically coincided with bearish price action during bear markets (opposite is true for bull markets). When undecided, ‘the trend is your friend’ prevails,” Woo tweeted.

In other news, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has released a special bulletin connecting Iranian nationals and the notorious SamSam ransomware with crypto exchange WEX (formerly BTC-e). As the report explained, WEX emerged after U.S. and Greek authorities shut down BTC-e, which was notorious for its involvement in money laundering. In fact, the exchange was responsible for cashing out 95 percent of all ransomware payments from 2014 to 2017, with $1.9 million coming from SamSam ransomware.

Now, PwC has connected SamSam creators Faramarz Shahi Savandi and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri with WEX, explaining that the duo used the exchange to launder large amounts of the $6 million in bitcoin that they stole during their international hacking and extortion spree, which lasted more than a year.

“We identified this Iranian money laundering operation as having links with currency exchange WEX (previously known as BTC-e),” stated the report. “WEX is most notably known for its alleged involvement in laundering of some [$4 billion], transferring of funds to facilitate operations of the threat actor tracked by PwC as Blue Athena, and being responsible for cashing out 95 percent of all ransomware payments made since 2014.”