Crimes in the crypto space are nothing new. Since the inception of this system of transacting wealth, people have used to dupe unaware people. Various studies and surveys point that crypto-related financial crimes are at an all-time high. After the harmful environmental effects of cryptocurrency mining, the use of crypto in criminal spaces is the most pertinent argument from anti-crypto lobbies. However, the picture seems to be changing with law enforcement learning to deal with blockchain technology better. At its core, the blockchain mechanism makes it impossible to counterfeit tokens or forge transactions. However, many people fall prey to crypto-related crimes due to some manual mistake or misunderstanding.
As a recent report from Chainalysis suggests, crypto crimes are decreasing in number and magnitude. It is not only the number the crimes that are going down. Instead, the impact of crypto-related crimes has decreased significantly over the last year. According to the same report, only 0.15% of all crypto transactions in 2021 were illegal or illicit. The optimistic message here is that legitimate use of cryptocurrency is increasing at a far higher rate. It is estimated that crypto crimes will shift to the fringes over the next few years.
Many people have lost substantial amounts of wealth to crypto scams. Privacy-focused cryptocurrencies like Monero have especially been under the scanner. Regulators across the world also had a tough time dealing with these crimes. However, as the Chainalysis report says, things might finally be changing for good.
