Criminal use of crypto spikes after years of steady decline
According to the latest report by analytics firm TRM Labs, after a multi-year decline in 2021-2024, the volume of criminal activity using cryptocurrencies grew to $158 billion in 2025. This is a significant increase compared to previous years, when this indicator was gradually declining.
At the same time, experts note that the share of criminal transactions in the total volume of digital assets continues to decline. If in 2021 they accounted for about 0.62% of the total volume, then in 2025 this figure dropped to 0.31%. Thus, despite the spike, criminal activity using cryptocurrencies makes up an increasingly smaller share of the digital assets market.
Analysts attribute the growth of criminal activity to the increasing professionalism of criminal groups, which are becoming more and more effective in using cryptocurrencies for money laundering, extortion, and other illegal purposes. In addition, this indicator could have been influenced by the overall growth of the cryptocurrency market, which has expanded significantly in recent years.
Expert opinion: Although the growth in the use of cryptocurrencies for criminal purposes is a cause for concern, it is important to understand that this is only one side of a much broader picture. Digital assets as a whole continue to be actively integrated into various sectors of the economy, and their share in legitimate financial activity significantly exceeds the volumes of criminal transactions. The task of regulators and software developers is to continue to improve measures to combat money laundering and other illegal practices, while also ensuring the further development of the legal cryptocurrency ecosystem.