Criminal crypto whales hold $25bn, Russia among fraudsters’ locations

Russia is one of the locations where cryptocurrency criminal activities are performed, as blockchain data platform, Chainalysis, states that over $25 billion illicit crypto funds are held globally.

Chainalysis stated in a report on criminal-related digital currency, that the $25 billion crypto funds are held by 4,068 criminal whales, which are wallets with cryproassets worth $1 million or more, with illicit addresses accounting for 10% of its funding.

The report noted that criminal activities in the cryptocurrency market was rising, recording 266.67% increase in criminal balances in 2021, when criminals held digital currency valued at $11 billion.

This was above the $3 billion reported in 2020, during the breakout year of cryptocurrency due to COVID-19 outbreak that forced some investors to redirect their investments to cryproassets from the securities markets.

As cryptocurrency becomes more popular in the investors community, criminal activities have hit an upswing, with criminal whales now accounting for 3.7% of all cryptocurrency whales.

READ ALSO: Bitcoin crashes as investors favour Gold amid Russia, Ukraine war

Breakdown of some criminal activities and balances

Stolen funds contributes $9.8 billion to the criminal whales funds, accounting for 93% criminal balances in 2021, while Darknet holds $448 million, scammers own $192 million.

Also listed are fraud shops with $66 million, and ransomware accounting for $30 million. And according to Chainalysis, vendors and administrators in the darknet market take a long position on the funds in their possession before liquidating, compared to persons behind stolen funds who sell after holding for a short period.

While 2021 was reported to have recorded a significant increase in criminal whales funds, 2022 hasn’t pick up from last year. Chainalysis stated that the seizure of $3.6 billion – which represents bitcoin funds stolen from the hack on Bitfinex in 2016 – by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) threw a spanner in the works of rising criminal whales.

Criminal balances now stands at $5 billion as of February 9, 2022, with Chainalysis narrowing down locations of 768 criminal whales to UTC time zones 2, 3 and 4, dominated by Russia and its population cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Although, some of these whales are projected to be in Iran, South Africa and Saudi Arabia.

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