As the increasingly popular but largely unregulated cryptocurrency industry expands, it attracts a growing number of fraudulent and malicious participants, where budding blockchain technology offers new opportunities to get rich fast.
Crypto criminals are looking for a way to launder $10 billion!
Based on industry growth and information from previous years, crypto criminals will launder at least $10.5 billion by 2025, as predicted in the 2025 report “Following the Money in a Cross-chain World” conducted by blockchain analytics platform Elliptic.
According to the research, Elliptic has identified over $4.1 billion in illicit or high-risk cryptocurrencies laundered through decentralized exchanges (DEXs), cross-chain networks, and “asset hopping or chain hopping” by 2022.
Taking this data into account, the platform continues to predict:
“The value of illicit cryptocurrency laundered through ‘cross-chain crime’ will reach $6.5 billion in 2023, up nearly 60% from $4.1 billion in mid-2022. The top estimate is about $15 billion.”
Analysis and prediction of cross-chain crime. Source: Elliptical
The study also noted the high rate of increase in cross-chain crime rates, noting that “over $500 million has been laundered through DEXs, bridges and coin swap services by 2020,” compared to $4.1 billion in July.
As Elliptic senior crypto threat analyst Arda Akartuna explains:
“These services, which greatly facilitate legitimate activities, have nevertheless caught the attention of bad actors who are looking for new ways to launder money.”
In addition, Akartuna explains that legacy blockchain analytics tools still used by many law enforcement agencies “cannot track cross-chain crimes that make investigations frustrating and give criminals an unfair advantage.”
Laundering of stolen funds
Notably, one of the most infamous cryptocurrency laundering incidents this year involved the crypto mixing service Tornado Cash (TORN), which indicates its involvement in attacks on Ethereum (ETH) blockchain bridges by the North Korean-sponsored Lazarus Group, as it takes 75% of the service.
It was reported that more than $2.5 billion was stolen in attacks by crypto hackers in the first three quarters of 2022, but the success rate of their operations decreased by 43% in the third quarter compared to the second quarter.
Although the Ethereum ecosystem was the most affected by these attacks, the BNB Smart Chain (BSC) was also not secure, as hackers attacked BCS’s cross-chain bridge BSC Token Hub, the bridge between BNB Beacon Chain and BNBChain, resulting in its suspension.
Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered as investment advice. Investment is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.