Illicit crypto transactions reached all-time highs in 2022: Report
Setting aside the criminal investigations of failed crypto businesses like FTX, Celsius, 3AC, Terra and others, 2022 set the record in illicit on-chain transactions. According to a yearly report published by Chainalysis on Jan. 12, the total cryptocurrency value received by illicit addresses reached $20.1 billion in the last year.
The numbers aren’t final, as the measure of illicit transaction volume grows over time as the analysts identify new addresses associated with criminal activity. Moreover, it doesn’t include proceeds from non-crypto native crimes like drug trafficking and the funds on the balance of those failed companies, which are now under investigation in various jurisdictions around the globe.
At this point, the total value of $20.1 billion exceeds the same measure in 2021 ($18 billion) slightly by 10%. However, it still represents an all-time record and significantly (by 60%) transcends the 2020 markers, which stand at $8 billion.
Such numbers can be explained by the fact that 44% of 2022’s illicit transactions account for sanctioned entities — last year, the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) launched some of its “most ambitious and difficult-to-enforce” crypto sanctions. Sanctions-related transaction volume rose so drastically that it couldn’t even be included on the graphs due to scale issues. Chainalysis evaluates this growth at the 10% million mark.
Related: Sanctions couldn’t ‘pull the plug’ on Tornado Cash: Chainalysis
The report cites an example of the crypto exchange Garantex. This Russian platform continued to operate while being listed on the OFAC sanctions register in April, and it hosted the majority of sanctions-related transaction volume in 2022.
As Eric Jardine, Cybercrimes
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