In 2023, the Tron blockchain accounted for 45% of the total volume of illegal cryptocurrency transactions. For the most part, we are talking about the USDT stablecoin from Tether, TRM Labs experts noted.
Our Illicit Crypto Economy Report covers eight key trends we're tracking from 2023, including a drop in overall illicit volume year-on-year. Get your copy here: https://t.co/zAVIymATB5.
— TRM Labs (@trmlabs) March 27, 2024Among the main trends, experts identified a reduction in the volume of the “criminal crypto-economy” by 22% year-on-year - from ~$50 billion to ~$35 billion.
About a third of all crimes in the industry are related to scams and fraud.
The share of illegal transactions in the total volume also decreased by approximately 9%, amounting to 0.63%.
Data: TRM Labs.TRM analysts noted that their reports provide higher estimates of criminal activity compared to other data from industry experts. According to them, they take into account an expanded range of networks like Polygon and BNB Chain, and also cover a wider range of illegal volumes, including those associated with sanctions activities.
In terms of blockchains in 2023, Tron was followed by Ethereum and Bitcoin with shares in illegal transactions of 24% and 18%, respectively. The network founded by Justin Sun increased its share from 41% to 45%.
USDT accounts for $19.3 billion of the total volume of illegal transactions. For Tether's stablecoin, this amounted to approximately 1.63% of the total value moved over the year. By comparison, Circle's USDC has a rate of 0.05%.
TRM recalled that during the year, Hamas and a number of terrorist groups introduced a moratorium on donations in cryptocurrencies. The trend intensified after October 7 (Hamas attack on Israel), when international organizations tightened control.
“However, among those terrorist financing campaigns that continued to accept digital assets, the number of unique Tron addresses that received USDT increased by 125%,” TRM experts emphasized.
Among other trends of last year, they indicated:
income from hacker attacks fell by more than 50% - to $1.8 billion from $3.7 billion in 2022. This is largely due to a decline in revenue from North Korea-linked groups;the volume of transactions on the sanctions lists decreased sharply - from $25.4 billion to $16.2 billion. This was facilitated by a threefold increase in the number of companies and individuals included in the relevant lists of US government agencies; drug sales volumes on darknet marketplaces remained at approximately the same level, amounting to $1.6 billion versus $1.3 a year earlier;the volume of scams and fraud decreased slightly - to $12.5 billion from $13.9 billion.Recall that in January, experts from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime noted the growing popularity of USDT as a tool for money laundering.
Responses for the organization were published by both the Tron team led by Sun and the issuer of the Tether coin.