Illicit Crypto Activity Falls With Rest of Market: Chainalysis Report, But There is a Catch
- This year has recorded major happenings in the crypto market starting with the seizure of the largest darknet marketplace, Hydra, to DeFi cross-chain attacks.
- Worth noting, that the report indicated that no major scam has been reported this year compared to prior years.
- According to the Bitcoin whitepaper, Satoshi Nakamoto argued that a certain percentage of fraud is accepted as unavoidable.
Mid-year crypto crime update by Chainalysis has highlighted how far the industry has gone in fighting scams. According to the report, total crypto scam revenue for this year until the end of July came in at $1.6 billion. Reportedly, the figures represent 65 percent lower than where it was through the end of July 2021. Thereby advising the firm to deduce that the decline appears linked to declining prices across different currencies.
This year has recorded major happenings in the crypto market starting with the seizure of the largest darknet marketplace, Hydra, to DeFi cross-chain attacks.
Worth noting, that the report indicated that no major scam has been reported this year compared to prior years. Back in 2019 PlusToken netted over $2 billion from victims and Finiko collected over $1.5 billion in 2021.
According to the report, 2022’s top three crypto scams include JuicyFields.io, Unique-Exchange.co/PARAIBA.world, and OmegaPro.world, which have netted $273,935,606, $267,487,674, and $106,449,195 respectively.
Bigger Picture of the Illicit Crypto Activity
According to the Bitcoin whitepaper, Satoshi Nakamoto argued that a certain percentage of fraud is accepted as unavoidable. Global law enforcement has come together to reduce the percentage of crypto scams. Their efforts are visible by the sheer number of marketplaces closed since the days of the Silk Road to Aplhabay.
Nevertheless, darknet operations may never come to a complete standstill. The Chainalysis mid-year illicit crypto activity report noted that more deposits have occurred in the first half of 2022 despite a decline in revenue
“Darknet market revenue is also down significantly in 2022, and is currently 43 percent lower than where it was through July in 2021,” the report noted.
Meanwhile, the report highlighted that crypto hacks have recorded a sharp uptick this year than the prior ones through July. Reportedly, $1.9 billion worth of cryptocurrency has been stolen in hacks of services, compared to just under $1.2 billion at the same point in 2021.
Worth noting the figures do not include the $190 million hack of cross-chain bridge Nomad and the $5 million hack of several Solana wallets recorded in early August.
Interestingly, North Korea-affiliated hacking groups including the Lazarus group have stolen approximately $1 billion of cryptocurrency from DeFi protocols in 2022.
Nevertheless, these hacks have been a major plus for developers and investors in tightening security levels. Moreover, each DeFi hack has been attributed to the openness of Dapp’s source code. Thereby giving developers ideas of how to further secure systems and hence ensure the prosperity of blockchain technology through cross-chains.
Notably, crypto regulations around the world have significantly improved the state of the industry. Consequently, big money from hedge funds and other institutional investors has proliferated the crypto market now more than ever.
Rebecca is a Senior Staff Writer at BitcoinWisdom, working hard to bring you the latest breaking news in the cryptocurrency market. In the words of Elon Musk “Buy stock in several companies that make products & services that *you* believe in. Only sell if you think their products & services are trending worse. Don’t panic when the market does. This will serve you well in the long-term.”
