The year 2023 has so far been mainly a year of recovery for the crypto industry. Bitcoin (BTC) is up more than 90% compared to the beginning of the year. That is not the only positive development that has taken place in the first part of 2023: crypto theft has decreased considerably.
Crime within the crypto industry has fallen sharply
According to a Chainalysis reportone of the industry’s most prominent data aggregators, crypto crime has fallen sharply in the first half of 2023. By the end of June, the influx of stolen tokens to known criminals has dropped 65% compared to 2022.
Also, the total value of stolen cryptos, which by mixers and questionable exchanges, are channeled decreased by 45%. Mixers are programs that cryptocurrencies are run through to make them untraceable.
The total value of crypto stolen in hacks and scams has also dropped significantly from last year. $1.1 billion less crypto was stolen in the first half of this year compared to last year. The decline in scams is the crowning glory: from January to June this year, $3.3 billion less was lost to scams than in the same period last year.
1/ Our Crypto Crime Mid-year Update is out! Here’s what we found:
📉Crime overall is down 65%
💸Scammers took $3.3B less YoY so far in 2023
📈Ransomware is on pace for its’ 2nd-biggest year ever🧵Follow along for more on these👆key takeaways.https://t.co/Dvi8G6BcUB
— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) July 12, 2023
The only exception is ransomware hacks. Attackers have been able to get $175.8 million more via ransomware, or hostage software, compared to the first half of last year. Last year, ransomware hacks were still on the decline, but it seems that this way of extorting crypto is gaining popularity again.
Two biggest crypto exit scams gone
Scams are so far almost always been the main culprit within the crypto industry. This will still be the case in 2023. However, that does not alter the fact that the captured value of crypto has fallen enormously compared to last year. Until the end of June 2023, 77% fewer scams have been stolen than in the same period in 2022.
This decrease is mainly due to the disappearance of two huge scam projects: VidiLook and Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Financial Management (CTTPFM). VidiLook was a company that promised to give out big rewards for viewing ads. The company had a big exit scam off, as well as CTTPFM. However, the damage was relatively minor and the biggest scammers have disappeared from the market.