EXCLUSIVE. Crypto: illicit activities down sharply in 2023

Is one of the anti-crypto crowd's favourite arguments losing steam? According to US start-up Chainalysis, all illicit activity linked to cryptocurrencies fell sharply in the first six months of the year, to $3 billion, compared with $7.8 billion in the first half of 2022.

This 65% drop in scams and other hacks is obviously linked to the downturn in crypto markets and the overall decline in the number of transactions and investors. But more broadly, it is above all the decline in the number of large-scale scams, such as VidiLook, that has driven down the overall volume.

Scams like VidiLook follow a typical model: investors are enticed to deposit cryptocurrencies in exchange for a false return. According to Chainalysis, VidiLook alone is responsible for a loss of at least $120 million to investors.

This figure should not be taken as a good thing, however. On the one hand, because there is still $3 billion worth of cryptos linked to illicit activities, and others because illicit activities are very context-dependent. These figures could therefore rise again in the event of a (sharp) upturn in prices.

Ransomware on the rise

Also, ransomware (ransomware) attacks, which most often involve infecting a computer system and demanding a ransom in cryptos, are on the rise. In the first half of the year, they accounted for $450 million, $175 million more than in the first half of 2022.

This increase is largely due, as Chainalysis points out, to the resumption of activity by hacker groups present in Eastern Europe. These groups are said to have temporarily suspended their activities because of the war in Ukraine, and have since resumed them...