4% of crypto whales are criminals and they have $25B between them: Chainalysis
Chainalysis data shows that 4068 criminal whales (roughly 4% of all whales) are hodling more than $25 billion worth of cryptocurrency between them.
The blockchain analytics firm defines criminal whales as any private wallet that holds more than $1 million worth of crypto with over 10% of the funds received from illicit addresses tied to activity such as scams, fraud and malware.
The data is from the “Criminal Balances” section of the Crypto Crime Report that explores criminal activity on the blockchain over 2021 and early 2022. The wide-ranging report also covers topics such as Ransomware, Malware, Darknet markets and NFT related crime.
“Overall, Chainalysis has identified 4,068 criminal whales holding over $25 billion worth of cryptocurrency. Criminal whales represent 3.7% of all cryptocurrency whales — that is, private wallets holding over $1 million worth of cryptocurrency,” the report reads.
The data showed that 1,374 whales had received between 10% and 25% of their balance from nefarious sources, while 1,361 had between 90% and 100% . Those with balances between 25% and 90% of illicit funds totaled 1,333 criminal whales.
“Whereas stolen funds dominate overall criminal balances, darknet markets are the biggest source of illicit funds sent to criminal whales, followed by scams second and stolen funds third,” the report read.
Related: Chainalysis report finds most NFT wash traders unprofitable
In terms of illicit transaction activity, the report revealed that criminal addresses had received more than $14 billion in 2021, marking a whopping 79% increase compared to the $7.8 million seen in 2020.
The lion's share of that $14 billion figure last year was attributed to scamming which increased by 82% year-over-year to account
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