Stay informed with free updates
Simply sign up to the Cryptocurrencies myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.
A record $158bn of digital tokens was sent to crypto wallets controlled by criminals last year, underscoring how the fast-growing digital assets industry is increasingly being used to facilitate illicit activity globally.
The amount pulled in by illicit crypto wallets marked a 145 per cent rise on 2024, according to a report by blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs. Criminal flows had been falling for the previous three consecutive years.
TRM attributed the sharp rise to “intensified sanctions designations, increased use of crypto by nation-state actors” and improved blockchain tracking technology.
It comes as the once-fringe crypto industry is increasingly embraced by traditional financial players, keen to profit from the sharp rise in prices in recent years and growing trading volumes.
“Crypto crime didn’t surge because crypto is failing — it surged because crypto is now embedded in the global financial system,” said Ari Redbord, global head of policy at TRM Labs.
“State-aligned actors, professional criminals and sanctions evaders are no longer experimenting with crypto. They’re operating durable financial infrastructure,” he added.
Russia’s A7A5 stablecoin, which is pegged to the rouble, received more than $72bn worth of payments last year. Wallets related to the token moved a further $39bn, “reflecting co-ordinated, state-aligned financial infrastructure built for sanctions evasion”, Redbord added.
The FT reported last year that A7A5 moved $9.3bn on a dedicated crypto exchange in the first four months since it launched.
Digital asset prices and volumes globally boomed last year after Donald Trump returned to the White House, vowing to make the US the crypto capital of the world. He pardoned a number of crypto criminals, appointed friendly regulators and launched several crypto businesses with his family.
His moves helped send the price of bitcoin soaring to a record high of $125,000 in October, although it has since fallen back to about $90,000.
Illicit finance is one of several topics being debated by US lawmakers as part of sweeping crypto market structure laws. Democrats are pushing for measures to combat illicit crypto finance.
Overall, sanctions-related crypto activity grew more than 400 per cent last year compared with 2024, while the amount of stolen funds grew 32 per cent. About $1.5bn was stolen from Asian crypto exchange Bybit last year in the industry’s biggest ever hack.
Meanwhile, Chinese money laundering and underground banking networks moved about $103bn worth of crypto last year, according to the report.
Illicit crypto volumes accounted for 1.2 per cent of overall digital asset volumes last year, compared with 1.3 per cent the year before.
