New Delhi: Cases of money laundering are also increasing in cryptocurrencies, which are rapidly gaining popularity. According to a report by blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, cybercriminals laundered $8.6 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in 2021. This amount of money laundering is 30 percent more than the year 2020.
The report estimated that since 2017 to date, cybercriminals have laundered a total of $33 billion in crypto, most of which have turned to centralized exchanges. Chainalysis said that the massive increase in money laundering in 2021 is not surprising given the significant increase in both litigation and illegal crypto activity over the past year.
17 percent of the money went to decentralized finance applications
Chainalysis said that of the $8.6 billion in money laundering, about 17 percent went to decentralized finance applications. This sector facilitates denominated financial transactions outside traditional banks. This is 2 percent more than in 2020.
Values coming from wrong addresses increased significantly
According to the Chainalysis report, mining pools, high-risk exchanges, and mixers also saw significant increases in value coming from illegal addresses. Mixers typically combine potentially identifiable or tainted cryptocurrency funds with others, in order to conceal the origin of the funds.
What is money laundering?
Money laundering refers to the process in which illegally earned money is transferred to a legal business.
