Let us note that 25 billion dollars is a huge amount. To compare, we can cite the market capitalization of the NFT-token sphere, i.e. their total value. According to analysts, the figure has already reached 16.5 billion dollars, although just over a year ago it was only 95 million.

Popular NFT tokens

Who uses cryptocurrencies

The main topic of the report was the growing number of cryptocurrencies associated with criminal schemes and the reasons behind this phenomenon. As of the end of 2021, at least $11 billion in cryptocurrencies have criminal origins. This is almost 3 billion more than a year ago.

Balances of “criminal” wallets over several years

The increase was largely due to increased capitalisation of the crypto market and rising coin prices, but the "increasing number of hacking attacks" also played a role. Incidentally, hackers' wallet balances have also increased markedly. According to Decrypt's sources, of the aforementioned $11 billion, 93 percent of the $9.8 billion equivalent is attributable to stolen cryptocurrencies.

Another 448 million relates to the turnover of illegal darknet platforms. Fraudulent schemes are estimated at $192 million, fake websites and platforms at $66 million. Finally, the criminals managed to “earn” $30 million through extortion.

Sources of criminals’ funds

Of course, another $3.6 billion should be added to the aforementioned statistics, which were stolen after the hack attack on the Bitfinex exchange in 2016. The money was laundered in cryptocurrencies all along, by a US couple who were recently arrested.

In addition to the increase in cryptocurrency balances in 2021, Chainalysis also noted fluctuations in the volume of these funds. They hit a record low of $6.6 billion in July, but have already surged to $14.8 billion in October.

The fluctuations highlight the importance of speed in investigating cryptocurrency crime, as criminal funds that have been successfully traced on the blockchain can be quickly ‘liquidated’.

Wallet balance fluctuations in 2021

Digital assets are of great interest not only to analysts, but also to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). During a recent virtual conference call with Bloomberg, Brian Worndran, assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division, stated that cryptocurrencies are a major tool for financial transactions related to extortion.

Proportion of “criminal” whales from the total number of major crypto holdings

Worndran added that despite "some of the opportunities" offered by blockchain technology, the nature of cryptocurrency payments is a "huge challenge for the FBI". It's all about the ease of transferring funds into crypto and then laundering it through "tumblers". A tumbler in this context is a technology that hides the origin of coins.

Tumblers are also often used to conceal the source of bitcoins in cases of ransomware, with which attackers encrypt organisations’ computer systems, denying their owners access to their data. In exchange for payment in bitcoins, the attackers unlock the systems.

For example, such a thing happened in the summer of 2020 when hackers attacked a group of COVID-19 researchers at the University of California. The former blocked the scientists' important data with malware and then demanded a ransom. It amounted to 116 BTC and was successfully obtained. We described the fraudsters' negotiations in a separate article.

Cryptocurrency scammer

These funds are difficult to trace as they usually never make their way into the traditional financial sector. One of the main advantages of Bitcoin is that it also allows anyone in the world to send any amount of money instantly at any time, making it a convenient alternative to cash in the digital age. As such, crypto remains “the only reliable tool for criminals”, experts believe.


We believe that this statistic is not as bad as it may seem at first glance. First of all, only part of the $25 billion is dirty, not all of it. Secondly, the total capitalisation of the cryptocurrency market today is $1.94 trillion, taking into account the sagging coin market. Accordingly, even now, the figures cited by experts make it clear that criminal funds represent only an overwhelming minority in the coin industry. That is, the majority of digital asset enthusiasts are still using them for their intended purpose - and that is a good thing.