Illicit crypto holdings top $75 billion, says Chainalysis
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis claims that cryptocurrency balances associated with illicit activity exceed $75 billion. Analysts note that, when compared to emerging plans for sovereign crypto reserve strategies, this figure could influence how nations assess their ability to seize illegal digital assets.
The $75 billion total includes roughly $15 billion directly controlled by illicit entities and more than $60 billion held in wallets linked to them. The firm also reported that darknet market operators and vendors control over $40 billion in on-chain crypto assets.
About 75% of the total illicit value is in Bitcoin, though the share of stablecoins in such activity continues to rise.
Structure of Illicit Crypto Assets. Source: Chainalysis, Cointelegraph.
According to Chainalysis’ Crypto Crime Report, illegal transactions accounted for only 0.14% of all blockchain activity in 2024. By comparison, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that 2–5% of global GDP is laundered through traditional financial systems.
Criminal transparency
Despite its relatively small scale, crypto crime receives disproportionate attention because every blockchain transaction is publicly traceable. This transparency makes illicit behavior easier to detect — and thus reported more frequently — compared to crimes using cash or conventional banking channels.
“The crypto ecosystem provides law enforcement with an unprecedented opportunity: billions of dollars in illicit funds are stored on public blockchains and could, in theory, be seized if authorities coordinate effectively,” the report states.
Chainalysis co-founder and CEO Jonathan Levin told Bloomberg that these figures “take asset seizure potential to an entirely new level,” adding that “it’s truly changing how nations think about this issue.”
As we wrote, Canadian police seize $40M in record crypto bust
Latest Bitcoin News
-
Afghanistan
-
Albania
-
Algeria
-
Angola
-
Argentina
-
Armenia
-
Australia
-
Austria
-
Azerbaijan
-
Bahamas
-
Bahrain
-
Bangladesh
-
Belarus
-
Belgium
-
Bolivia
-
Botswana
-
Brazil
-
Brunei
-
Bulgaria
-
Cambodia
-
Cameroon
-
Canada
-
Chile
-
China
-
Colombia
-
Congo
-
Costa Rica
-
Cote d'Ivoire
-
Croatia
-
Cuba
-
Cyprus
-
Czechia
-
DR Congo
-
Denmark
-
Dominican Republic
-
Ecuador
-
Egypt
-
El Salvador
-
Estonia
-
Eswatini
-
Ethiopia
-
Finland
-
France
-
Georgia
-
Germany
-
Ghana
-
Greece
-
Haiti
-
Hong Kong
-
Hungary
-
India
-
Indonesia
-
Iran, Islamic republic
-
Iraq
-
Ireland
-
Israel
-
Italy
-
Jamaica
-
Japan
-
Jordan
-
Kazakhstan
-
Kenya
-
Korea
-
Kuwait
-
Kyrgyzstan
-
Laos
-
Latvia
-
Lebanon
-
Lesotho
-
Libya
-
Lithuania
-
Luxembourg
-
Madagascar
-
Malaysia
-
Malta
-
Mauritius
-
Mexico
-
Moldova
-
Mongolia
-
Montenegro
-
Morocco
-
Mozambique
-
Myanmar
-
Namibia
-
Nepal
-
Netherlands
-
New Zealand
-
Nigeria
-
North Macedonia
-
Norway
-
Oman
-
Pakistan
-
Palestine
-
Panama
-
Papua New Guinea
-
Paraguay
-
Peru
-
Philippines
-
Poland
-
Portugal
-
Puerto Rico
-
Qatar
-
Reunion
-
Romania
-
Rwanda
-
Saudi Arabia
-
Serbia
-
Singapore
-
Slovakia
-
Slovenia
-
Somalia
-
South Africa
-
Spain
-
Sri Lanka
-
Sweden
-
Switzerland
-
Syria
-
Taiwan
-
Tajikistan
-
Tanzania
-
Thailand
-
Trinidad and Tobago
-
Tunisia
-
Turkey
-
UAE
-
Uganda
-
Ukraine
-
United Kingdom
-
United States
-
Uruguay
-
Uzbekistan
-
Venezuela
-
Vietnam
-
Yemen
-
Zambia
-
Zimbabwe
- Forex
- Crypto
