Clearing the Reputation: Criminal Cryptocurrency Transactions have Declined

The amount of Bitcoin transactions used in facilitating or making illegal activities is now on the low. According to the new data by Chainlink, a blockchain analysis company, the number of criminal cryptocurrency transactions is now less than 1%.

Most governments have been redundant to recognize cryptocurrencies in their payment sector citing their criminal features that are difficult to manage or deal with.

Countries that have tried to ban cryptocurrency

Regulators including the police, financial watchdogs and the central banks, used to say that Bitcoin and other digital currencies are highly preferred to be used by bad actors to carry out their illegal activities such as money laundering (ML), proliferation financing, supporting terrorism activities, buying and selling prohibited drugs, and many others, than the traditional paper money.

In an attempt to prevent criminals from doing these illicit transactions, some nations such as Pakistan, China, Morocco, India, Algeria, Vietnam, Bolivia, Nepal, etc., put (or tried to stop) a ban on any operation involving cryptocurrency.

0.34% of entire cryptocurrency transactions are tied to unlawful use

According to the data by Elliptic, a cryptocurrency forensics company, about 13 percent of all illegitimate proceeds in BTC were transacted via privacy wallets in last year, up from around 2 percent in 2019.

But according to the new data, the total volume of illicit activity in all-kinds of cryptocurrencies has declined from 35% (in 2012), and 60% (worth $601 mln) in 2019, to now about 0.34% in 2021. 

As per now, the amount of Bitcoin that has been transferred since its inception is about $10 trillion in value, meaning that since 2009 only around $34 billion USD has transacted in illicit use. So the 0.34% doesn’t really threaten regulators that the cryptocurrency is a major fuel being used by gangsters for illicit use. 

However, this percentage should not be ignored, financial regulators must continue pressing hard on criminals and dark activities associated with cryptocurrency so as to bring down the amount of cryptocurrency transactions tied to interdicted use, to 0.00%.