Chainalysis, a company specializing in the analysis of blockchain transactions, has delivered its long-awaited report on illicit cryptocurrency transactions in 2021. Over the last year, these transactions amount to $ 14 billion. On the other hand, this represents barely 0.15% of the total amount of transactions.
Cryptocurrency Criminal Activity Breaks Record …
This will give grain to grind to opponents of Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies in general. Indeed, Chainalysis has just published an excerpt from its latest annual report, Crypto Crime, which will be available next February.
Like every year, this report is devoted to criminal activity involving the use of digital assets . Editor of the report, the company Chainalysis has made a name for itself through its careful analysis of fraudulent transactions on the various blockchains.
What about the year 2021? Chainalysis tells us that illicit crypto-asset transactions were in the order of $ 14 billion, an increase of 79% from the previous year ($ 7.8 billion).
These 14 billion represent a new record in value over one year . This figure is not surprising in itself, as the use of cryptocurrencies exploded in 2021. However, it is almost logical that this increase affects all sectors, including illegal ones.
… but this activity fell in volume in 2021
The cryptocurrency slayers could therefore stop at this figure and the general press has taken care of it for them. However, there is a figure which seems more interesting to us and which goes almost unnoticed by some.
We are talking about the rate of illicit transactions compared to total cryptocurrency transactions. However, still according to Chainalysis, the first represented only 0.15% in 2021, a fall of 56% compared to the previous year (0.34%).
If we compare with 2019, the fall is even more impressive since this rate was 2.1%. In addition, if the rate of illicit transactions increased by 79%, the total volume of transactions increased by 567% in 2021 compared to 2020.
With the numbers being stubborn, the only conclusion that can be made is that the total volume of cryptocurrency transactions has grown much faster than that of illicit cryptocurrency transactions.
Decentralized finance (DeFi), an important part of illicit transactions
From the excerpt from the Chainalysis report, we learn that the DeFi industry is responsible for the majority of cryptocurrency- related criminal activity in 2021. Again, this is not surprising to anyone involved in the assets. digital.
Indeed, the use of DeFi exploded in 2021, allowing the creation of many protocols. However, many of these protocols had certain vulnerabilities in terms of security or even were pure scams. The SQUID token is a topical example .
Thus, out of $ 3.2 billion in cryptocurrencies stolen in 2021, 2.2 billion came directly from decentralized finance protocols.
Despite these significant figures, Chainalysis remains optimistic about the potential and opportunities offered by DeFi . However, it will be necessary to correct the scams so that it can be massively adopted.