Researchers from the Chainalysis company found that in 2020 the share of the illegal use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has significantly decreased.
However, such tools are still very popular among criminals because they can be used to send funds anonymously, the analysts said in a report.
The share of the criminal use of cryptocurrency decreased to 0.34% or $ 10 billion compared to 2019. Then, just over 2% of transactions with bitcoin and other coins were carried out by criminals. The total amount of such transactions was approximately $ 21.4 billion.
Trending: Smart Contracts Audits Startup Hexens Closed $4.2 M Seed Funding
The scale of crypto scams is also decreasing, as evidenced by the decrease in the number of financial pyramids, whose organizers urge people to invest in dubious tokens. Chainalysis notes that about 54% of illegal transactions take place on the darknet. The volume of such transactions grew from $ 1.3 billion in 2019 to $ 1.7 billion last year.
The coronavirus pandemic has forced many people to stay at home and work remotely. That is definitely what the extortionists and various swindlers took advantage of.