Fewer cybercriminals are looking to bitcoin as their primary means of illicit fund transfer, with criminals returning to fiat channels or opting for other cryptocurrencies, according to a new study. .
Digital asset compliance and risk management firm TRM Labs has found that the volume of illicit finance related to Bitcoin (BTC) has declined significantly over the past seven years, according to its “Illegal Crypto Ecosystem Report” released on June 28. clarified.
TRM Labs instead said the new multi-chain era has brought a “qualitative leap” away from bitcoin as the primary means of moving criminal proceeds. The firm also stressed that cash and other fiat-denominated finance remains the “default” vehicle for criminal fund transfers.
“Indeed, cash, and even older forms of finance like hawala (remittance without physical movement), still fund illicit activities and are the default means by which their proceeds are laundered. There is.”
TRM Labs also notes that while illegal activity involving cryptocurrencies is on the rise, “cryptocurrencies did not invent these forms of crime.”
The company reported that attacks on cross-chain bridges stole about $2 billion in cryptocurrencies in 2022, of which bitcoin was a minority.
The report points out that “the multi-chain era has had a significant impact on the circulation of illegal cryptocurrencies as a whole,” stating that the proportion of Bitcoin in illegal transactions will increase from 97% in 2016 to 2022. plummeted to just 19%, he added.
Additionally, bitcoin accounted for two-thirds of all cryptocurrency hacks in 2016, down to just under 3% by 2022. That shortfall was accounted for by Ethereum (68%) and his BNB smartchain (19%). Said.
Bitcoin, meanwhile, was once a “dedicated currency” for terrorism financing, but by 2022, 92% of it was “almost superseded” by Tron, the TRM Institute claims.
Additionally, TRM Labs claims a 240% increase in the use of Tether (USDT) among the terrorist financing groups it tracks in 2022.
The latest illicit finance stats in cryptocurrency could be good news for Bitcoin, which seems to be back on the adoption table in the last few days.
However, according to TRM Labs, at least $7.8 billion was spent on Ponzi and Ponzi schemes, up to $1.5 billion was spent on drug-focused darknet markets, and $3.7 billion was spent on DeFi hacks and exploits. Stolen in 2022.
Related: North Korea and criminals use DeFi services for money laundering
Earlier this year, Cointelegraph reported that it had set a new record for illegal cryptocurrency trading in 2022. The total amount of crypto received from fraudulent addresses exceeded $20 billion last year, according to analytics firm Chainalysis.
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