A research on money laundering trends by Chainalysis states that in 2023, the value of cryptocurrency transmitted by unlawful addresses dropped from $31.5 billion to a minimum of $22 billion, a decrease of nearly $10 billion. The reduction is attributed by the research to the general decline in the numbers of cryptocurrency transactions, both legal and illegal, in 2023. A review of services utilized by corrupt officials reveals a notable rise in the amount of money going to bridge procedures and gaming services.
The percentage of illicit funds transferred to gambling services has increased.
The latest Chainalysis research on money laundering trends explains that in 2023, illicit addresses transferred cryptocurrency valued at $22 billion, which is roughly $10 billion less than the $31.5 billion transmitted in 2022. This decrease is attributed by the report to the general 2023 downturn in the numbers of both legal and illegal cryptocurrency transactions.
The decline in the volume of cryptocurrency transactions linked to money laundering (29.5%), however, was more noticeable than the dip in volume overall (14.9%), according to the Chainalysis statistics. Additionally, the data shows that a greater percentage of illicit funds are going toward decentralized finance (defi) protocols.
According to the blockchain analysis and intelligence firm, it is not advisable for criminals to disguise the movement of funds through defi protocols due to their inherent transparency. However, others may interpret this as bad actors favoring defi protocols more and more for money laundering.
There has been a minor decline in the percentage of illicit funds sent towards illicit service categories, according to an analysis of the instruments and services used by malicious actors. This breakdown, however, also shows a notable rise in the value of monies allocated to bridge protocols and gaming services.
Five Fiat off-Ramping Services Are Mostly Used by Criminals
According to data from Chainalysis, there are five main services that criminals appear to exploit when it comes to fiat off-ramping services.
Although there are thousands of off-ramping services available, just a small number of these services see the majority of money laundering activity. The analysis indicated that 71.7% of all illicit monies transmitted to off-ramping services in 2023 went to just five services, a minor increase from 68.7% in 2022.
The Chainalysis analysis revealed that more experienced cybercrime groups, like the Lazarus Group, appear to favor bridges and mixers when it comes to money-laundering strategies. The information showed that in 2023, bridge protocols collected $743.8 million in cryptocurrency from illegitimate addresses, supporting this argument. The $312.2 million that was obtained in 2022 is more than doubled by this amount.
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