A recent cyber crime report from Chainalysis has revealed a disturbing trend of criminals increasingly targeting stablecoins over other major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin in 2024.
Chainalysis, a U.S. based blockchain analysis firm, in their latest “2025 Crypto Crime” report, has highlighted this shift of cyber criminals towards stablecoins. According to the reports, the illegal transactions involving stablecoins have increased by 63%.
The report further states that in the year 2020, the main focus of crime was Bitcoin (BTC) due to its sheer dominance in price and high liquidity. However, fundamentally, the trends have shifted. By the year 2024, the maximum number of crypto crimes has risen in stablecoins as they have become the major targets for criminal activity by the cyber criminals.
This rise is part of a wide trend within the cryptocurrency ecosystem, as the stablecoins now serve a solid percentage in all crypto activities, as their usage growth has reached to 77% and is increasing year after year.
The report also highlights the practical cases of using the stablecoins across various markets, including storing value, sending remittances, facilitating cross-border payments, and supporting international trade. Moreover, many stablecoin issuers have frozen funds when they become aware of the use of stablecoins by the illegal actors.
Additionally, Tether has frozen addresses associated with scams, terrorist financing, and sanctions evasion, figuring that stablecoins can be a poor choice for value transfers by criminals. The major players in the stablecoin market, such as Tether, TRON blockchain, and blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, have collectively frozen over $100 million in criminal assets across five continents. By collaborating with law enforcement agencies to reduce cryptocurrency-related financial crimes.
Aside from this, certain forms of crypto crime, like ransomware and darknet market (DNM) sales, remain largely linked to Bitcoin. And other illegal activities, such as scamming and laundering stolen funds, tend to be more dispersed across various asset types.
Transactions similar to those with authorized organizations have mostly migrated to stablecoins. However, as the crypto crime has evolved, some crypto crime, such as ransomware and darknet market (DNM) sales, remain BTC-dominated and are continuing to favor Bitcoin.
Also Read: 2024 saw Spike in Crimes related to Crypto sector
