The number of criminal transactions involving Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies reached record levels in 2021.
A study by Chainalysis says that the volume of such transactions amounted to $ 14 billion. Compared to 2020, the use of digital currencies in fraudulent schemes, in the spread of ransomware viruses, and transactions carried out on the darknet has increased by about 80%.
At the same time, the researchers note that of the total amount of transactions involving cryptocurrencies, only 0.15% fell on criminal schemes.
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The total amount of transactions in digital assets soared to $ 15.8 trillion last year. This show jumped more than five times in comparison with the previous year. Moreover, not only the volumes of use of bitcoin but also of non-fungible tokens (NFT) have increased significantly.
The growing number of transactions involving digital assets signals an acceleration in the institutional adoption of innovative instruments.
The largest number of victims of fraudsters was among the users of the decentralized financing market DeFi, the researchers emphasized.