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TRM Talks Hydra Takedown: A discussion with experts from U.S. Treasury, Flashpoint and TRM Labs

Apr 6, 2022 - 28min

EPISODE 20

TRM Talks Hydra Takedown: A discussion with experts from U.S. Treasury, Flashpoint and TRM Labs

With Roman Y. Sannikov,  and Todd Conklin,  and Vladislav Cuiujuclu and Kyle Armstrong

Yesterday, we saw a series of calculated and coordinated actions leading to the takedown of Hydra, the world's largest and longest running darknet market. In 2021, Hydra accounted for an estimated 80% of all darknet market-related cryptocurrency transactions, and since 2015, the marketplace has received approximately $5.2 billion in cryptocurrency.

In the wake of these actions, a panel of subject matter experts join TRM Talks to discuss the Hydra takedown, the Garantex designation, and the global strategy to investigate and take action against the illicit underbelly of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Watch the talk to hear insights from:

  • Todd Conklin, Counselor to the Deputy Secretary, U.S. Treasury
  • Vladislav Cuiujuclu, Team Lead Global Intel, Flashpoint
  • Roman Y. Sannikov, Head of Cyberthreat Intelligence, TRM Labs
  • Kyle Armstrong, Director of Law Enforcement Relations, TRM Labs

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About the guests

Roman Y. Sannikov
TRM Labs
Todd Conklin
US Department of the Treasury

Todd Conklin is the US Department of the Treasury's Deputy Assistant Secretary of Cyber and Chief AI Officer. Prior to this position he has served in various roles at Treasury, including deputy assistant secretary for cyber threat intelligence (CTI) and as a counselor to the deputy secretary.

Todd also served at the US Secret Service as an Investigator and as an intelligence officer at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

Vladislav Cuiujuclu
Flashpoint

Vlad Cuiujuclu is a Team Lead at Flashpoint, where he focuses on cybercrime and Deep & Dark Web intelligence. Cuiujuclu is especially interested in the Russian-language segment of the DDW, various fraud techniques, as well as emerging TTPs that are commonly used by threat actors in Eastern Europe.

Kyle Armstrong
TRM Labs

While at the FBI, Mr. Armstrong was the Unit Chief of the Bureau’s Counterterrorism Finance Targeting Unit (CTFTU) where he led teams that leveraged financial intelligence to initiate and enhance illicit finance investigations. In addition, Mr. Armstrong was the program manager of the Virtual Currency Evolving Threat team, where he led some of the largest cryptocurrency-related investigations including the dismantling of three terrorist financing cyber-enabled campaigns, involving Hamas, ISIS, and al-Qaeda. He received the FinCEN Director’s Award in 2022 for that work. In addition, Mr. Armstrong received the 2020 FinCEN Director’s Award for his work investigating North Korean cybercriminal and proliferation activity, the 2022 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Award, the Homeland Security Director’s Award, and numerous others.

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