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Anti-Money Laundering Crypto & Digital Assets

Chain Hopping

Moving funds across multiple blockchains to obscure the transaction trail and evade detection.

1 Introduction

Chain hopping (also called cross-chain laundering) involves moving cryptocurrency funds across multiple blockchains to obscure the transaction trail. By converting assets from one blockchain to another using bridges, decentralized exchanges, or instant swap services, criminals exploit the fragmentation of blockchain analytics tools which often specialize in a single chain. Each hop adds a layer of complexity that makes tracing exponentially harder.

$3.8B

Laundered via cross-chain in 2022

3-7 hops

Typical number of chain swaps

85%

Success rate in evading single-chain analysis

2 Cross-Chain Flow Simulator

4
100 ETH

Total Fees Lost

0 ETH

Tracing Complexity

Analytics Tools Needed

4

3 Detailed Analysis

How Chain Hopping Works

The criminal starts with funds on one blockchain (often Ethereum) and uses cross-chain bridges (e.g., RenBridge, THORChain, or atomic swaps) to move assets to another chain. Each bridge creates a break in the on-chain trail because blockchain analytics tools must correlate events across separate, independent ledgers. The criminal may also use DEX aggregators to swap between different token types during each hop.

Red Flags

  • Rapid sequential use of bridge protocols with large amounts
  • Funds originating from known hack addresses or sanctioned wallets
  • Conversion patterns designed to minimize time on any single chain
  • Use of privacy chains (Monero, Zcash) as intermediate hops

Related Fraud Types

Mixing & Tumbling

Using services that pool and redistribute crypto assets to break the link between sender and receiver.

Shell Companies

Using corporate entities with no real operations to obscure the ownership and movement of illicit funds.

Wash Trading

Simultaneously buying and selling the same asset to generate misleading activity and inflate trading volume.