Chainalysis found illicit cryptocurrency volumes have fallen this year. Total scam revenue stands at $1.6 Billion, which is 65% less than it was in July 2017. “Those numbers suggest that fewer people than ever are falling for cryptocurrency scams,” the blockchain data analytics firm wrote.
Data Shows Illicit Crypto Volumes Are Down
Blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis published its mid-year crypto crime update titled “Illicit Activity Falls With Rest of Market, With Some Notable Exceptions” on Tuesday.
That was the overall conclusion of the firm:
Only 15% of illicit volumes have fallen year-over-year, while 36% are legitimate.
Specifically, “Total scam revenue for 2022 currently sits at $1.6 billion, 65% lower than where it was through the end of July in 2021, and this decline appears linked to declining prices across different currencies,” Chainalysis noted.
Furthermore, “the cumulative number of individual transfers to scams so far in 2022 is the lowest it’s been in the past four years,” the firm added.
Chainalysis detailed:
These figures suggest that more people are not falling for the cryptocurrency scams. One reason for this could be that with asset prices falling, cryptocurrency scams … are less enticing to potential victims.
It was noted by the company that there were no other scams in 2022 comparable to Plustoken or Finiko. Both the first scam took in more than $2B from victims in 2019, while the second stole over $1.5B in 2021.
Darknet market revenues are also down this year. They currently stand at 43% below where they were in July 2021.
Hacking and theft of funds are two areas where illicit activity will increase in 2022. This is what the Blockchain Analytics firm said:
In July 2022 alone, $1.9 Billion worth of cryptocurrency was stolen through hacks of service, as compared with just $1.2 Billion in 2021.
“This trend doesn’t appear set to reverse any time soon, with a $190 million hack of cross-chain bridge Nomad and $5 million hack of several Solana wallets already occurring in the first week of August,” Chainalysis added. “Much of this can be attributed to the stunning rise in funds stolen from defi [decentralized finance] protocols, a trend that began in 2021.”
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