According to the forecasts of researchers from the company CipherTrace, 2020 will be a record year in the scale of crimes related to cryptocurrencies.
The team published a report in which it drew attention to the fact that a little less than $ 1.4 billion in digital currency was stolen during the first five months of this year.
In terms of the scale of crimes in the crypto sphere, this year can go around 2019, when more than $ 4.5 billion in bitcoin and other coins were stolen.
Analysts at CipherTrace note that theft of funds has soared this year due to extortion and fraudulent schemes, including those carried out under the guise of a coronavirus pandemic.
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To get information about token holders, hackers began sending out letters allegedly on behalf of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, and the Center for Disease Control. These mailings contained malicious files.
Of the $ 1.36 billion from January to May, 98% of the funds ($ 1.3 billion) were stolen by fraudsters. Such activity is not related to hacking crypto exchanges, the researchers note.
74% of bitcoin transactions in the reporting period were cross-border, which indicates the need for the speediest adoption of common standards to combat the financing of terrorism through cryptocurrencies.
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The report also predicts that the scale of the laundering of criminal proceeds through virtual assets will increase in the context of the global crisis in the areas of healthcare and the economy.