Finnish Investigators Claim to Track Monero Transactions, But Privacy Coin Likely Not Compromised

According to Decrypt, Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (KRP) claimed to have tracked transactions made using the privacy-preserving cryptocurrency Monero. However, a former member of the MAGIC Monero Fund committee, Csilla Brimer, believes that Monero itself has not been compromised. Instead, she suggests that investigators were able to trace some transactions due to users' faulty operational security. Brimer emphasized that Monero is effective at guarding transaction details but cannot protect users from their own security mistakes. The KRP has been investigating transactions made by an address tied to the 2018 data breach and extortion of Finnish psychotherapy provider Vastaamo. The hackers demanded payment in exchange for not releasing patients' private information. Investigators sent 0.1 BTC to the provided address and have been analyzing how the wallet moved funds with Bitcoin and Monero. The KRP claims to have figured out how to trace XMR transactions but has not disclosed specific methods. Despite the claims, Monero remains the largest privacy coin with a $2.8 billion market cap, trading at $158.22 per coin as of Friday morning.