The Mid-year Crypto Crime Update from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis was just released, and shows some interesting data on how scammers handle the downturn.

Obviously, market conditions are quite different this year than last, so the total number of legitimate and scam transactions are down overall.

But scammers aren't as quick as as traders to take a step back, illicit transaction volume is down just 15%, compared to 36% for legitimate transactions.

"Total scam revenue for 2022 currently sits at $1.6 billion, 65% lower than where it was through the end of July in 2021, and this decline appears linked to declining prices across different currencies."

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While the above data makes it look like it's 'business as usual' for scammers, one piece of data gives some very good news - less people are falling for scams now than in the last 4 years. 

"..he cumulative number of individual transfers to scams so far in 2022 is the lowest it’s been in the past four years."

Cannabis crowdfunding platform that was actually a ponzi scheme, JuicyFields, brought in the most revenue among scams so far this year, with over $1B of incoming transfers.  

The darknet marketplace also saw a decline in spending, with a large immediate decline happening alongside the takedown of Hydra Marketplace by German authorities. 

You can read the full report from Chainalysis here.


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Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News