It never seemed like a better time to become a crypto hacker. According to a new report, crypto wallets tied to criminal enterprises have more virtual money than ever. In contrast, governments have stepped up their efforts against cybercrime and a similar cybercriminal that find crypto the safe place to park money.
A new report from Chainalysis (via The Verge) analysed a number of cryptocurrencies’ blockchains so that it could be connected to illicit activities. Because the blockchain is a public leadingger of all transactions, a person with resources can take the time to see where money is going in the chain.
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With the cryptocurrency being stolen for almost 10 years, it was recovered for about 11 billion dollars in 2021. That’s 3 billion dollars, which could be explained by massive cyber theft or a massive high in global prices or the fact that crypto prices quadrupled between 2020 and 2021.
The majority of this $11 million was tied to stolen funds. About $10 billion – or 90 percent – were due to outright fraud, while “darknet market funds are next at $448 million, followed by escalating a hundred percent of these funds at $192 million, fraud swindling at 66 million, and ransomware at $30 million.
Chainalysis noted that the criminal balance sheet fluctuates significantly over 2021, from $6.6 billion in July to $14.8 billion in October. This may be explained partly by the wild fluctuations in cryptocurrency exchanges, but also by government intervention. The ban on crypto in China was one thing, but the US Department of Justice also seized $3,6 billion in stolen Bitcoins from the Bitfinex hack. There were alleged stolen funds from the failed rapper and his girlfriend.
The criminal crypto wallets are achencing faster than ever by the government’s crackdown on ransomware attacks. Ransomware hackers hold their currency for up to 468 days. But they moved their cash in only 65 days in 2021. That also could be explained by the historical highs in coin prices and the sexy scam of more expensive investors.
One of the more interesting points of the Chainalysiss report is the fact that it can quickly identify the number of criminal accounts with a million dollars worth of funding. That number is just 4% of all crypto accounts tied to illicit activity and the blockchain even identifys the time zone where those wallets are located. Most of these accounts are local to Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Iran, giving one first indication where the searchers should start.
The report concluded that the investigation of criminal whales is a crucial opportunity for governments around the world to continue their string of successful seizures and to bring the greatest beneficiaries of cryptocurrency-based crime, which is a crime that is backed by a government of the largest size, this report concluded.
