A new report revealed a growing trend in efforts by cyber criminals to hide their stolen cryptocurrencies through various transaction streams. Crystal Blockchain pointed out that the volume of bitcoin stolen has increased significantly since 2019.
Only 8% of the funds were transferred to exchanges through review processes in 2020
According to the results, in 2020 the company reported that cyber criminals were attempting to withdraw stolen and fraudulent digital assets at a rate 13 times faster than five years ago.
Interestingly, in 53% of cases, exchanges with verification requirements were the primary targets of these funds in 2015. However, the numbers fell to 8% of stolen funds transferred through crypto exchanges with verification processes in 2020.
Still, mixers and exchanges with no verification requirements were the main targets of stolen crypto funds in 2020. Additionally, the report highlighted that crypto criminals only hide their stolen funds within 28 days on average.
Growing popularity of blockchain analytics tools
Crystal Blockchain provided a few possible reasons for this trend, including the emergence of several blockchain analytics firms working hand in hand with the exchange to improve their security compliance systems. The company added:
In the case of security breaches, for example, the combination of the speed with which information is disseminated among crypto community members in 2020 compared to 2015 and the improved ability to immediately mark addresses as high-risk through blockchain analysis platforms is now forcing crypto criminals to do so to withdraw stolen assets in much less time than ever before.
Overall, the report praises the fact that crypto rules are increasingly encouraging exchanges to take appropriate action. This includes implementing more robust anti-money laundering procedures. However, the blockchain analytics firm warned:
As the number of VASPs using analytics tools increases, the fight against theft and other illegal activities continues to improve. However, this means that the systems used by crypto criminals to withdraw stolen funds will become even more complex and hidden and will definitely seek to withdraw their assets in an even shorter period of time than ever before.
What do you think of the results of the report? Let us know in the comments below.
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