Blockchain analyst ZachXBT has slammed Bitcoin bridge protocol Garden Finance of involvement in money laundering of funds related to the notorious Lazarus Group, undermining the decentralization reputation of the project.
In a June 21 X entry, ZachXBT suggested that more than 80% of Garden Finance’s recent fee revenue had been derived from laundering stolen crypto, including Bybit hack funds reportedly controlled by North Korean hackers.
Alleged Ties to Bybit Hack and Lazarus Group
The accusations came after Garden co-founder Jaz Gulati shared a fee milestone of 38.86 BTC in fees earned — $300,000 of which in 12 days.
“You conveniently left out >80% of your fees were from Chinese launderers moving Lazarus Group funds from the Bybit hack,” ZachXBT replied.
Challenging Decentralization
ZachXBT also attacked Garden’s claim as a decentralized platform, blaming it for being one actor continually adding cbBTC liquidity from Coinbase to fuel the illicit transactions.
“Explain how it is ‘decentralized’ when I sat in real time for a few days and saw one guy fill up cbBTC liquidity from Coinbase,” he said.
Garden Finance Responds
Gulati denied the claims, stating 30 BTC in fees were levied before the Bybit hack. He termed the accusations as untrue and described the backlash as “baseless.”
Garden Finance boasts as “the fastest Bitcoin bridge” with crosschain swaps in under 30 seconds with no custody risk. Its analytics show over 24,984 BTC in volume — more than $1.5 billion — in 40,571 atomic swaps.
Wider Crackdown on Crypto Laundering
The allegations follow shortly after Evita Pay’s founder Iurii Gugnin was arrested in New York. He has 22 charges associated with laundering $530 million through stablecoins on behalf of Russian banks that are under U.S. sanctions.
The DOJ accuses Gugnin’s platform of facilitating transactions between June 2023 and January 2025, going against sanctions to gain access to sensitive U.S. technologies.
