Chainalysis Releases 2022 Crypto Crime Report

Blockchain intelligence and research firm Chainalysis has released their 2022 Crypto Crime report, and as usual, its fascinating reading. We take a look at some of the highlights covered in this year’s look at the dark side of crypto.

The 2022 Crypto Crime report offers readers a glimpse into the dark underbelly of crypto, as well as some key insights into how bad actors operate in the space. The first key takeaway offered is that, while crime in crypto has never been greater, it’s also never represented a smaller proportion of overall activity. This is definitely a positive takeaway for any investor or crypto native.

Scams make up the majority of illicit transactions, followed by stolen funds, and then terrorism financing. The category is rounded out with ransomware, proceeds from organized fraud, and then sanctions. Ransomware saw a major decline in 2021, after accounting for a substantial amount of the total overall illicit crypto activity in 2019 and 2020. Whether or not this change is part of a broader trend that has seen authorities and system administrators better protect against such attacks remains to be tested over time.

The report also makes clear that while the total overall proportion of illicit chain activity is on the decline, criminal transactions still accounted for approximately $14 billion in 2021, certainly a non-trivial amount.

For the full details, head over to the Chainalysis website and check out the full report here.