Coming in hot… during crypto winter. Last year saw a record $20B+ in illicit crypto transactions, according to a Chainalysis report. Those came in the form of dark-net market sales, ransomware payments, scams, and hacks. Cross-chain bridges alone saw hundreds of millions stolen in hacks (most notably Ronin and Wormhole). Note: that $20B+ doesn't include any crypto lost to failed exchanges like FTX or bankrupt crypto lenders such as Celsius.
Getting bigger… while staying small. The total dollar value of illicit crypto transactions has been trending up for years. In 2017 it was $5B. In 2019 it hit $12B. And in 2021 it broke $18B. But that rapid climb doesn't tell the entire crypto-crime story. That's because criminal transactions have remained a relatively small percentage of the ~$1T crypto market:
Not so big time: Last year's $20B crime record was just 0.24% of all crypto activity that year, and 2% of crypto's total market cap.
For some time: Illicit transactions have remained under 2% of total crypto-transaction volumes since 2017.
Crypto winter didn't freeze crypto crime… but there wasn't a huge growth spurt either. Last year's market downturn saw $2T in investor value wiped out, which led to trouble at behemoths like DCG and Gemini. In this contracting environment, it's surprising that crime rose at all. But zooming out, that record high looks like crypto business as usual.