empty
26.01.2022 05:35 PM
Crypto reputation tarnished by money laundering

More than $8.6 billion in cryptocurrencies were laundered by cybercriminals in 2021 - up by 30% from 2020, a report by Chainalysys said.

According to the report, which was released on January 26, more than $33 billion worth of crypto were laundered since 2017. Due to rising crypto prices, most of the total laundered money was moved to centralized exchanges over time.

The sharp rise in money laundering activity in 2021 is not surprising, given the significant growth of both legal and illegal crypto activity last year, Chainalysis said.

Furthermore, rising stock prices could have led to speculative traders using the crypto market crypto to convert their gains into cash or vice versa.

During money laundering, cash that was acquired from illegal activities is being legalized and transferred to accounts of legal institutions, and its true origin is concealed.

According to Chainalysis, only 17% of the laundered $8.6 billion went to decentralized finance applications (DeFi, DAO, etc.), referring to the sector which facilitates crypto-denominated financial transactions outside traditional banks. This was up from 2% in 2020

In theory, the rising amount of DeFi transactions should have led to an increased inflow of illegally-acquired cash. However, a sizeable portion of the laundered money was likely moved to more popular market sectors.

Mining pools, high-risk exchanges, and mixers also saw substantial increases in value received from illicit addresses, the report said. Mixers typically combine potentially identifiable or tainted cryptocurrency funds with others, in order to conceal the trail to the fund's original source.

Wallet addresses associated with theft sent just under half of their stolen funds, or more than $750 million worth of crypto in total, to decentralized finance platforms. Legalizing laundered funds via DeFi could probably be easier compared to other means. Furthermore, it could also serve as a profitable yet risky investment, with yield higher than those offered by bonds or deposits in regular banks.

Chainalysis also clarified that the $8.6 billion laundered last year represents funds derived from crypto-native crime such as darknet market sales or ransomware attacks in which profits are in crypto instead of fiat currencies.

"It's more difficult to measure how much fiat currency derived from off-line crime — traditional drug trafficking, for example — is converted into cryptocurrency to be laundered. However, we know anecdotally this is happening," Chainalysis said.

Crypto tokens could be used for both legitimate and illegal purposes. However, increased government regulation could be necessary to minimize the crypto's misuse by cybercriminals. Otherwise, the resulting scrutiny and accusations could severely undermine the crypto industry.

Egor Danilov,
Analytical expert of InstaForex
© 2007-2025
Select timeframe
5
min
15
min
30
min
1
hour
4
hours
1
day
1
week
Earn on cryptocurrency rate changes with InstaForex
Download MetaTrader 4 and open your first trade
  • Grand Choice
    Contest by
    InstaForex
    InstaForex always strives to help you
    fulfill your biggest dreams.
    JOIN CONTEST

Recommended Stories

Trump makes another step towards crypto market

Bitcoin and Ethereum plunged late yesterday but then managed to recover their positions. For now, the bears still have more strength than the buyers, but this may only be temporary

Jakub Novak 16:38 2025-04-11 UTC+2

Trading Recommendations for the Cryptocurrency Market on April 11

Bitcoin and Ethereum dropped in value toward the end of Thursday's U.S. session but recovered during today's Asian trading hours. It has become common practice that the crypto market declined

Miroslaw Bawulski 09:28 2025-04-11 UTC+2

Technical Analysis of Intraday Price Movement of Polkadot Cryptocurrency, Friday April 11, 2025

With the appearance of divergence between the price movement of the Polkadot cryptocurrency and the Stochastic Oscillator indicator on its 4-hour chart, as long as there is no weakening correction

Arief Makmur 08:52 2025-04-11 UTC+2

Technical Analysis of Intraday Price Movement of Uniswap Cryptocurrency, Friday April 11, 2025.

From what is seen on the 4-hour chart of the Uniswap cryptocurrency, there appears to be a divergence between the Uniswap price movement and the Stochastic Oscillator indicator, so based

Arief Makmur 08:52 2025-04-11 UTC+2

Trading Recommendations for the Cryptocurrency Market on April 10

Bitcoin and Ethereum both surged, gaining between 6% and 10% on news that Trump had suddenly changed his mind. A strong wave of FOMO is evident in BTC following news

Miroslaw Bawulski 08:05 2025-04-10 UTC+2

Bitcoin under selling pressure. Why even spike could hardly save bulls

Bitcoin is taking a nosedive, funds are reporting losses, and analysts see no reasons for growth. What is happening with the leader of the crypto market? What

Ekaterina Kiseleva 12:07 2025-04-09 UTC+2

Trading Recommendations for the Cryptocurrency Market on April 9

Bitcoin and Ethereum collapsed by the end of Tuesday, continuing the heavy sell-off during today's Asian session. Another sharp decline in the U.S. stock market dragged other risk assets down

Miroslaw Bawulski 09:22 2025-04-09 UTC+2

Another Cryptocurrency Market Crash

Another collapse in the stock markets has also hit the cryptocurrency market. Investors, fearing further declines, began to massively offload digital assets, which triggered a sharp drop in the prices

Jakub Novak 09:22 2025-04-09 UTC+2

Trading Recommendations for the Cryptocurrency Market on April 8

Bitcoin and Ethereum are gradually recovering after the sharp sell-off earlier this week. The situation in the U.S. stock market and its sharp decline are closely tied to the fall

Miroslaw Bawulski 09:25 2025-04-08 UTC+2

Bitcoin – Technical Analysis Overview

Currently, the market is testing monthly support levels at 79,773 – 75,446. A consolidation below this area would give bears control over these levels and invalidate the Ichimoku weekly golden

Evangelos Poulakis 07:36 2025-04-08 UTC+2
Can't speak right now?
Ask your question in the chat.
Widget callback
 

Dear visitor,

Your IP address shows that you are currently located in the USA. If you are a resident of the United States, you are prohibited from using the services of InstaFintech Group including online trading, online transfers, deposit/withdrawal of funds, etc.

If you think you are seeing this message by mistake and your location is not the US, kindly proceed to the website. Otherwise, you must leave the website in order to comply with government restrictions.

Why does your IP address show your location as the USA?

  • - you are using a VPN provided by a hosting company based in the United States;
  • - your IP does not have proper WHOIS records;
  • - an error occurred in the WHOIS geolocation database.

Please confirm whether you are a US resident or not by clicking the relevant button below. If you choose the wrong option, being a US resident, you will not be able to open an account with InstaForex anyway.

We are sorry for any inconvenience caused by this message.