Crypto crime down by 20%

The criminal activities in the crypto sector declined sharply in the first half of the year. However, there was a record increase in ransomware attacks.

Crime statistics for the first half of the year show a positive trend in the crypto sector. According to analysis tool Chainalysis illegal on-chain activities have declined by nearly 20% over the past year." This shows that "legal activity is increasing faster than illegal activity."

Nevertheless, there was also a partial increase in certain criminal activities, including extortion using cryptocurrency, also known as ransomware. The resulting damages rose two percent to about $460 million. According to Chainalysis, "2024 will be the most lucrative year yet for ransomware payments."

The total amount of money stolen also increased significantly from less than a billion dollars to $1.58 billion. This is "partly due to the rise in the price of Bitcoin (BTC), from which 40% of the total transaction volume associated with these robberies came."

Overall, however, Chainalysis indicated that the year so far "has brought a number of positive developments for the cryptocurrencies ecosystem."