Illicit crypto addresses received at least $24.2 billion in 2023: Report

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Cryptocurrencies enable people to send money around the world without using the mainstream financial system. The underlying blockchain technology creates a record of transactions where senders and receivers are identified only by their wallet addresses, which are a string of letters and numbers.

Chainalysis said the $24.2 billion number is almost certainly an underestimation and will rise as it identifies more illicit addresses. It also said it had doubled its 2022 estimate to $39.6 billion from $20.6 billion.

Chainalysis' data only includes crypto-related crime. It said it was impossible to determine from blockchain data alone the volume of cryptocurrency that is the proceeds of non-crypto-related crime, for example when cryptocurrency is the means of payment in drug trafficking.

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Instead, the firm counted crypto sent to wallet addresses identified as illicit, plus the volume of funds stolen in crypto hacks.

Chainalysis said sanctioned entities and jurisdictions together accounted for a combined $14.9 billion worth of illicit transaction volume in 2023, which represents 61.5% of all illicit transaction volume it measured on the year.

Of this total, most came from crypto services sanctioned by the U.S. or located in U.S.-sanctioned jurisdictions where U.S. sanctions are not enforced.

Revenue from crypto scamming and hacking fell in 2023, Chainalysis said, but ransomware and darknet markets saw revenues rise.

Various other types of illicit addresses were identified in the report, including those linked to terrorist