Record $40 Billion in Illicit Crypto Transactions Reported for 2024
Criminal behavior in the cryptocurrency sphere surged in 2024, with an estimated $40 billion in illicit transactions reported by Chainalysis. This figure could rise to as much as $51 billion as additional historical data becomes available.
Key Points:
- Chainalysis identified $40 billion in illicit crypto transactions for the year 2024, with full crime estimates potentially increasing to $51 billion.
- There has been a notable change in criminals’ preferences from using bitcoin in 2021 to predominantly opting for stablecoins today.
- Data for 2025 could be influenced by a significant $1.5 billion hack on Bybit.
Crypto-related crimes increased despite a rise in institutional adoption of cryptocurrency in 2024. The report reveals that illicit funds, including scams, malware, fraud, and darknet activities, constituted this total.
In 2023, illicit transactions reached $46.1 billion, but Chainalysis anticipates that 2024 will exceed this total when accounting for all relevant crimes, estimating up to $51.3 billion.
The report clarifies that it doesn’t include non-crypto-related criminal revenue such as drug trafficking and money laundering, which may use cryptocurrencies for payments.
The approval of bitcoin ETFs in 2024 led to increased institutional trading activity, which in turn decreased the proportion of crypto crime relative to the overall market, dropping from 0.61% in 2023 to 0.14% in 2024.
Criminals’ approaches to transferring illicit funds have evolved; in 2021, bitcoin comprised 70% of illicit transactions. Now, it represents only 20%, while stablecoins dominate with 63%. Privacy coin Monero (XMR) is also frequently utilized for dark web transactions, accounting for about 10% of all illicit activities.
It’s crucial to be aware that the figures for 2025 may be skewed due to the recorded ether (ETH) loss related to the Bybit hack.
