Stablecoins turn into a favorite for criminals and illegal transactions – Chainalysis

The safest coins aren’t so safe anymore. Stablecoins, which by definition peg their value to assets such as the US dollar to reduce volatility, have drawn a large number of investors—all kinds of investors—so much so that they were the most popular crypto for criminal transactions in 2024.

According to Chainalysis’ 2025 Crypto Crime Report, stablecoins accounted for 63% of all crypto transactions related to criminal activities last year.

Apparently, Stablecoins have overtaken Bitcoin as the most used crypto coin in these types of transactions since 2022. The report said, “This new reality is part of a broader ecosystem trend in which stablecoins also occupy a sizable percentage of all crypto activity, demonstrated by total growth YoY in stablecoin activity around 77%.” 

How stablecoin succumb to illegal transaction

Stablecoins have become very popular for their legal uses, but they have also been hacked and used for criminal activities by people who are willing to take risks. In the same light, stablecoins are mostly used by countries like Russia that are looking for ways to get around Western banking restrictions. To that end, using stablecoins to avoid sanctions has become more popular. 

Additionally, they could be used by entities in sanctioned areas to facilitate foreign trade or send money to entities in non-sanctioned areas. These crimes leverage the fact that blockchain transactions are anonymous to hide where the money comes from, usually by using complicated networks of wallets and swaps. 

Large-scale sanctions evasion is still hard to do because the crypto market isn’t very liquid, and blockchain transactions are public. However, smaller-scale activities like fund transfers by sanctioned entities and politically exposed people face security and compliance risks.

Also, stablecoins can be used to quickly send money across borders without using traditional banks. They are widely accepted on crypto platforms and have a high level of liquidity. The same reason why stablecoins are preferred in the industry is now being used as a weakness.

Crypto 2024 illegal activities – Chainanalysis

According to the report, illegal crypto addresses received $40.9 billion in 2024, as indicated by the most recent data. Chainalysis predicts that this figure will increase to $51.3 billion for the year as it continues to refine its statistics by identifying additional illegal addresses and incorporating historical activity into its estimates.

Additionally, the amount of stolen money increased by approximately 21% annually in 2024, reaching $2.2 billion. The report stated that DeFi services were the source of the largest portion of the stolen funds, while centralized services were the “most targeted” in the second and third quarters of last year.

Also, private key compromises accounted for 43.8% of the stolen crypto during the year. The report indicates that North Korean hackers stole an estimated total of $1.34 billion last year, the largest amount ever recorded.

Notably, both high-tech and low-tech counterfeits were popular. The firm’s estimates indicate that “pig butchering” and high-yield investment frauds were the most successful schemes.

Crypto crime has become more professionalized and diverse

An increasing number of traditional criminal activities, including drug trafficking, wagering, intellectual property theft, money laundering, human and wildlife trafficking, and violent crime, are being conducted using crypto by a variety of illegal hackers

Certain criminal organizations are using crypto to facilitate polycrime, which involves the commission of multiple categories of criminal activity. In fact, “illicit-actor org” received $10.8 billion of the total $40.9 billion received by illegal crypto addresses in 2024. 

This term covers the wallets of services and individuals who are directly involved in cybercrime, such as hacking, extortion, trafficking, or scams. There are also those who facilitate this activity by selling the underlying infrastructure, tools, and services necessary to commit crime and profit, including laundering as a service.

There may be no better example of how the crypto crime environment has become more professional than the online market Huione Guarantee. In the mid-year report on crypto crime in 2024, data showed that Huione and all the vendors that use their platform have handled more than $70 billion in crypto transactions since 2021. 

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