Analysts at Chainalysis report a nearly 20% drop in illicit blockchain activity year-to-date, highlighting a positive trend for the sector’s growing legitimacy.

However, the report also identifies concerning trends in specific types of cybercrime. Funds stolen in crypto heists have nearly doubled to $1.58 billion, and ransomware inflows have risen by 2% to $459.8 million in the first half of 2024.

Hacking Activity

Chainalysis attributes the surge in stolen funds to a resurgence in attacks on centralized exchanges. This shift marks a pause in the trend where hackers had been focusing on decentralized finance. While the number of hacking incidents has only marginally increased compared to 2023, the average value stolen per event has soared by nearly 80% in 2024, driven partly by rising crypto prices.

The average amount of value compromised per event has increased by 79.46%, rising from $5.9 million per event from January to July of 2023 to $10.6 million per event thus far in 2024, based on the value of the assets at the time of theft.

Ransomware Threat

Ransomware remains a persistent threat, with 2024 on track to surpass the previous year’s record of $1 billion in ransom payments. Chainalysis notes that 2024 has seen the largest ransomware payment ever recorded, approximately $75 million, paid to the Dark Angels ransomware group.

The ransomware landscape has fragmented following law enforcement actions against major players like ALPHV/BlackCat and LockBit. Some affiliates have migrated to less effective strains or launched new ones, increasingly targeting larger businesses.

Chainalysis cautions that while the overall decline in illicit activity is encouraging, the continued rise in stolen funds and ransomware payments underscores the evolving tactics of cybercriminals.

Centralized Exchanges and Money Laundering

Centralized crypto exchanges continue to be frequent targets for hackers and play a significant role in laundering stolen assets. Chainalysis found that trading platforms have received nearly $100 billion worth of crypto from known illicit addresses since 2019, indicating a lack of international cooperation on anti-money laundering efforts.

Nearly 30% of all crypto from illicit addresses eventually ends up at sanctioned services, including the Russian exchange Garantex. In 2022, $30 billion of “dirty crypto” interacted with such services, highlighting the ongoing challenges in combating crypto-based money laundering.

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