On August 15, cryptocurrency research and compliance firm Chainalysis published the first part of its 2024 crypto crime report.
The company revealed that aggregate illicit activity on-chain has decreased by 19.6% so far this year, from $20.9 billion to $16.7 billion.
He added that this shows “that legitimate activity is growing faster than illicit activity.”
Part 1 of our mid-year report #cryptocrime The update is here! Illicit activity on the blockchain is down nearly 20% year-to-date, but stolen funds activity is on the rise and ransomware payments are breaking records. Read our blog for a detailed analysis. https://t.co/WRGG91mpFP
— Chain Analysis (@chainalysis) August 15, 2024
Not all is good news
However, it also reported that despite this decline in illicit transactions, two categories of illicit activity (stolen funds and ransomware) are on the rise.
“While illicit activity has decreased so far this year compared to previous years, cryptocurrency flows to specific entities linked to cybercrime show some worrying trends.”
Stolen funds nearly doubled from $857 million to $1.58 billion, while ransomware inflows increased by about 2% from $449.1 million to $459.8 million, it reported before adding that the amount is already 84% higher than the value stolen during the first half of 2023.
The research revealed that the average amount stolen per heist increased by almost 80% and hackers are targeting centralized exchanges more frequently instead of prioritizing DeFi protocols.
“Following a 50% drop in the value of stolen cryptocurrencies in 2023 compared to 2022, this year has seen a resurgence in hacking activity.”
Furthermore, this year is on track to be the biggest year ever for ransomware payments. The average ransom payment for severe malware strains has increased from $200,000 in early 2023 to $1.5 million in mid-June 2024.
However, despite more frequent attacks, victims are paying ransoms less frequently.
Chainalysis also reported that inflows to “risky services” such as mixers and exchanges without KYC procedures are trending higher than this time last year.
Defeating the criminals
The researchers concluded that the key to disrupting cybercrime is to “disrupt its supply chains, including attackers, affiliates, partners, infrastructure service providers, money launderers and cash-out locations.
On August 15, Chainalysts aware The results of a survey revealed that there was a resounding call for more personnel resources for cryptographic investigations.
The lack of experts to assist with cryptocurrency investigations is a critical problem, he noted.
“The survey results highlight a critical need for more staff, qualified expertise and improved technical resources.”
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