Alongside increased stablecoin adoption, the use of such fiat-linked cryptocurrencies by cybercriminals is on the rise, according to a report by Chainalysis.
In the last two years, stablecoins accounted for the majority of illicit crypto flows, according to a report by crypto research firm Chainalysis. This compares to around 25 percent in 2021 when Bitcoin was the top cryptocurrency of choice for cybercriminals, mainly due to its high liquidity.
«This change also comes alongside recent growth in stablecoins’ share of all crypto activity overall, including legitimate activity,» the report said.
Illicit Volume
Overall, at least $24.2 billion in cryptocurrencies were sent to illicit wallet addresses. Of this amount, 61.5 percent, or $14.9 billion, was attributable to transaction volumes linked to entities and jurisdictions that were sanctioned. Crypto scamming decreased 29.2 percent and hacking revenue dropped 54.3 percent, while ransomware and darknet market activity saw a rise.
The report noted that the total volume of illicit flows is very likely an underestimation that will increase as more addresses are identified. As a reference, Chainalysis’ original 2022 estimate of $20.6 billion nearly doubled to $39.6 billion.
