More than $1 billion of dirty money in cryptocurrency

Only four exchange addresses have received more than $1 billion in dirty cryptocurrency in 2022, Chainalysis analysts have found.

Criminal activity in the cryptocurrency market is tied to just four exchange addresses. This conclusion was reached by Chainalysis analysts after studying the transactions of “dirty” cryptocurrencies in 2022.

The analysts found that over the past year, more than $1 billion of dirty cryptocurrencies were transferred to four addresses. However, it is unclear which cryptocurrency exchanges are in question.

At the same time, 1.2 million other addresses accounted for only $38 million of such assets. Analysts also found out that a little more than half of the $6.3 billion of illegal funds in 2022 went to 542 addresses and “disappeared” online through money laundering platforms.

Experts estimate that last year, cryptocurrencies worth almost $23.8 billion were sent from illegal addresses, which is 68% more than in 2021. At the same time, the main recipients of “dirty” cryptocurrencies are still “the main centralized exchanges,” Chainalysis says.

The increase in activity is noteworthy, as cryptocurrency exchanges are usually required to have anti-money laundering measures in place. However, analysts note that more than 40% of “dirty” cryptocurrencies are first cleared through decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols before entering crypto exchanges, and only then they try to exchange cryptocurrencies for dollars through exchanges.

Earlier, Chainalysis found that US sanctions are hardly effective in the absence of international support, as capital inflows to the sanctioned Garantex exchange continue to grow. According to Chainalysis, a few months before the sanctions were imposed on Garantex, monthly capital inflows amounted to about $620 million. After the restrictions were imposed, capital inflows increased to $1.3 billion. According to analysts, the activity is due to the fact that Garantex and most of its users are located in Russia, whose authorities do not apply US sanctions to the trading platform.