Recently, Chainalysis released its new Crypto Crime report 2021. According to the reports around 4,068 criminal giants hold $25 billion worth of cryptocurrencies. The data has been released as a preliminary review of Chainalysis’s upcoming crime report 2022. It will cover the subjective topics on ransomware, NFT, money laundering, and malware.
The report covers many aspects of the criminal activities related to crypto funding. Further to this, the reports depict country-wise estimates which received crypto funding for illicit activities and crimes. Moreover, the crime report shows 270 service deposit addresses that aim to launder money in cryptocurrency. It shows specialized money laundering services running across the world that also happen to provide services to liquidate crypto assets.
The Chainalysis Crime Report
According to the reports, in 2019 the illegal cryptocurrency transaction volume was capped at 2.1% or $21.4 billion worth of transfers. Whereas in 2020, the total illegal activity dropped to just 0.34% or $10 billion worth of transfer in transaction volume. One of the main reasons for this downfall is the low economic activity in the years 2019 and 2020. Also, Covid-19 played a huge role in this disastrous fall in transaction volume.
When it comes to locating the topmost countries for illicit crypto activities, China, Russia, South Africa, and The United States come on top of the list.
However, stolen funds, darknet markets, ransomware, scams, terrorism financing, and domestic extremism are some of the unlawful activities. According to the above graph, in 2019, scams alone made up to 55% of total unlawful activities and hoarded $2.6 billion worth of cryptocurrency. Also, the darknet market is the second-largest crime category accounting for $1.7 billion worth of crypto assets movement in 2020.
Thanks to the law enforcement bodies around the world for maintaining compliance and fighting against cybercrimes. It is expected, that criminal activities might come down in the future with stringent laws and regulations. Also, as the blockchain community rises more decentralized platforms are being established to curb the illegal movements of assets.
Also, read - Top blockchain analysis and surveillance tools
