Among cryptocurrency crimes, it was frauds that showed the biggest drop in profits – similar criminals received 77% less money than in the first half of last year. While crypto fraudsters earned about $3.3 billion in the first half of 2022, the figure barely crossed $1 billion in 2023.
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“Typically, an increase in the value of cryptocurrencies leads to an increase in the number of cases and monetary volume of frauds. Many people are trying to invest in a growing market and are not always able to distinguish between fraudulent schemes and legitimate ones. However, in 2023, we record a massive decline in crypto revenues, which breaks the long-term trend,” Chainalysis said in its report.
However, hackers using ransomware viruses received significantly more funds than they did in the first half of 2022. The amount of assets they stole is $175.8 million more than the same period last year.
“When we published our annual report for 2022, we were pleasantly surprised by the decline in revenue for ransomware virus creators. However in 2023, we see an increase in these illegal gains. Hackers are attacking large wealthy companies and appear to have regained their profits after a disappointing 2022,” the analysts wrote.
ImmuneFi recently reported that the number of attacks on cryptocurrency projects increased in 2023, but the total amount stolen was much lower.