Illicit crypto transactions in 2024 are likely to surpass 2023’s record, as criminals pivot from Bitcoin to stablecoins for laundering stolen funds.
Chainalysis, a company that provides insights into blockchain technology, reported that illegal transactions involving cryptocurrencies totaled $40 billion in 2018. These transactions are likely to increase to more than $51.3 billion when more data is acquired.
The survey considered criminal actions such as ransomware attacks, crypto scams, and fraudulent acts involving digital assets. Most recent predictions show that illicit transactions will be $6.1 billion lower in 2024 than in 2023, the record year.
However, criminals have altered their strategies, and the introduction of institutional measures has resulted in a reduction in the proportion of illegal transactions in comparison to lawful activities.
According to Chainalysis, stablecoins have emerged as the most popular choice for the transportation of stolen cryptocurrency. An incredible 70% of all illicit transactions in 2021 were executed using Bitcoin.
Stablecoins, on the other hand, have become the dominant form of cryptocurrency, accounting for 63% of the volume of unlawful transactions. Meanwhile, the Bitcoin network is only responsible for laundering 20% of illegal cash.
Dark web retailers and users have also begun using the privacy coin Monero (XMR), while alternative cryptocurrencies are involved in 10% of all unlawful transactions. As a result of Wall Street’s institutional acceptance, the volume of genuine cryptocurrencies has increased significantly.
There has been a huge increase in the amount of legal trading activity since the introduction of spot exchange-traded funds that are based on Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The surge of acceptance has brought the percentage of illegal transactions in the cryptocurrency market down to 0.14% of total volume in 2024, which is a significant decrease from 0.61% in the previous year.
