Crypto Crime Siphoned Off Nearly $10.5B in 2020: Research

Financial crime related to cryptocurrency reaped nearly $10.5 billion last year – slightly down from 2019, according to research from blockchain analytics company Coinfirm.

• Provided to CoinDesk on Monday, Coinfirm's report said, of the $10.5 billion total, over two-thirds (67.8%) was misappropriated by fraud and scams.
• That's seven times more than hacks, which reaped 9.6% of the 2020 total of ill-gotten gains.
• Darknet markets and the drugs trade made up 18.4%, while sanctions breaches accounted for just 3.9% of the yearly total.
• However, the firm notes that the crypto total still pales in comparison to EY's estimate that crime in traditional finance amounted to $1.4-3.5 trillion last year.

• The data showed most notably that scams saw a sharp rise for 2020, in part due to the PlusToken scam which fleeced investors for around $2.9 billion.
• However, fund misappropriated by frauds and scams have doubled since 2017, per the report.
• The company further noted that much crypto crime is hidden, with 80% of fraud and hack cases not reported in the year they occur and up to 50% not reported at all.
• It arrived at the data having developed a "map" of global crypto crime through its own methodologies and services.

See also: Cryptopia Exchange, Currently in Liquidation, Gets Hacked Again: Report