Total global payments into addresses connected to fraud or scams dropped to US$12.5 billion in 2023 from US$13.9 billion in 2022.
However, scams and fraud still made up about a third of all cryptocurrency crimes, and the firm warned that the number is likely to rise further as more information is gathered over time.Illicit fund volumes fell by almost 30 per cent to US$34.8 billion in 2023. The fall surpasses the 22 per cent decline in total crypto volumes during that period.
She said that as global law enforcement agencies build up crypto-related capabilities, they will realise that crypto-related crime is easier to trace and disrupt than traditional financial crime because of the immutable record of transactions on public blockchains. The report said the total value of funds subjected to sanctions by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control fell to US$16.2 billion in 2023 from US$25.4 billion the year before, even though the number of sanctions rose threefold to 33 in 2023.
Ms Ang said the data continues to validate the importance of looking beyond Bitcoin when trying to get a complete picture of crypto-related crime.
Source: Digital Coin News (digitalcoinnews.net)