2023 saw more than $24 BILLION shifted in illicit crypto transactions, says Chainalysis report

ILLICIT crypto activity accounted for $24.2 billion last year, according to the latest report from research outfit Chainalysis.

Among the nefarious wallet addresses, several were identified as being connected to financing terrorism.

Alarmingly, Chainalysis claim its estimation of $24.2 billion could be short of the mark.

However, in its 2024 Crypto Crime Trends report preview, researchers say crime levels may have fallen from the $39.6 billion peak in 2022 which it revised from the original figure of $20.6bn.

"2023 saw a significant drop in value received by illicit cryptocurrency addresses, to a total of $24.2 billion," the report states.

"As always, we have to caveat by saying that these figures are lower bound estimates based on inflows to the illicit addresses we’ve identified today. One year from now, these totals will almost certainly be higher, as we identify more illicit addresses and incorporate their historic activity into our estimates.

"For instance, when we published our Crypto Crime Report last year, we estimated $20.6 billion worth of illicit transaction volume for 2022. One year later, our updated estimate for 2022 is $39.6 billion."

Much of that growth, the report said, came from the identification of previously unknown, highly active addresses hosted by sanctioned services, as well as Chainalysis' addition of transaction volume associated with services in sanctioned jurisdictions to the illicit totals.

Read the Chainalysis preview here.

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