Criminal whales collectively hold $25 billion worth crypto: Chainalysis report
Crypto whales are those that HODL more than a million dollars worth of crypto in their private wallets. However, it seems that a significant percentage of these whales do acquire their crypto from illicit sources, as per a recent Chainalysis blog.
Criminal addresses worth $25 billion, says Chainalysis
As per the report from Chainalysis, a total of 3.7% of crypto whales are considered criminal whales that have acquired their assets from illicit sources. There are a number of activities that come under these sources that the blockchain analytics firm pointed out.However, stolen funds are the biggest source of illicit funds, also represented in the chart below.
[caption id="attachment_200904" align="alignnone" width="730"]
Year end criminal balance[/caption]
The chart confirms that criminals held nearly $11 billion worth of crypto by the 2021 end as compared to $3 billion by 2020 end, which is a more than threefold increase. “As of the end of 2021, stolen funds account for 93% of all criminal balances at $9.8 billion. Darknet market funds are next at $448 million, followed by scams at $192 million, fraud shops at $66 million, and ransomware at $30 million,” added Chainalysis.
Russia tops the list
Chainalysis also confirmed that Russia dominates when it comes to the number of criminal whales operating in a time zone.[caption id="attachment_200905" align="alignnone" width="743"]
Source: Chainalysis[/caption]
Chainalysis distributed the number of crypto whales, as seen in the chart above. The blockchain analysis firm also added:
“UTC time zones 2, 3, and 4 are estimated to contain the most criminal whales, while time zones 1 and -9 also have a large number. UTC time zones 2, 3, and 4 include much of Russia.”Furthermore, the firm added that Moscow and Saint Petersburg are an integral part of the studies and important centers for criminal whales.
On the other hand, the Bank of Russia has been actively considering a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies.
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