{"id":24168,"date":"2023-01-17T09:00:35","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T09:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022"},"modified":"2023-01-17T09:22:49","modified_gmt":"2023-01-17T09:22:49","slug":"crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022","title":{"rendered":"Crypto crime hit record US$20 billion in 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>Illicit use of cryptocurrencies hit a record US$20.1-billion last year as transactions involving companies targeted by US sanctions skyrocketed, data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has showed.<\/p>\n

The cryptocurrency market floundered in 2022, as risk appetite diminished and various crypto firms collapsed. Investors were left with large losses and regulators stepped up calls for more consumer protection.<\/p>\n

Even as overall crypto transaction volumes fell, the value of crypto transactions related to illicit activity rose for the second year running, Chainalysis said.<\/p>\n

Transactions associated with sanctioned entities increased more than 100 000-fold in 2022 and made up 44% of last year\u2019s illicit activity, Chainalysis said.<\/p>\n

Funds received by the Russian exchange Garantex, which was sanctioned by the US treasury department in April, accounted for \u201cmuch of 2022\u2019s illicit volume\u201d, Chainalysis said, adding that most of that activity is \u201clikely Russian users using a Russian exchange\u201d.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Chainalysis said wallets are tagged as \u201cillicit\u201d if they are part of a sanctioned entity. Garantex did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.<\/p>\n

The US also imposed sanctions last year on cryptocurrency mixing services Blender and Tornado Cash, which it said were being used by hackers, including from North Korea, to launder billions of dollars worth of proceeds from their cybercrimes.<\/p>\n

Volumes fall The volume of stolen crypto funds rose 7% last year, but other illicit crypto transactions including those related to scams, ransomware, terrorism financing and human trafficking, saw volumes fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe market downturn may be one reason for this,\u201d Chainalysis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve found in the past that crypto scams, for instance, take in less revenue during bear markets.<\/p>\n

\u201d<\/p>\n

Chainalysis said its $20.1-billion estimate only includes activity recorded on blockchain, and excludes \u201coff-chain\u201d crime such as fraudulent accounting by crypto firms.<\/p>\n

The figure also excludes when cryptocurrencies are the proceeds of non-crypto-related crimes, such as when cryptocurrency is used as a means of payment in drug trafficking, Chainalysis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to stress that this is a lower bound estimate \u2014 our measure of illicit transaction volume is sure to grow over time,\u201d the report said, noting that the figure for 2021 was revised to $18-billion from $14-billion as more scams were discovered.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Illicit use of cryptocurrencies hit a record US$20.1-billion last year as transactions involving companies targeted by US sanctions skyrocketed, data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has showed. The cryptocurrency market floundered in 2022, as risk appetite diminished and various crypto firms collapsed. Investors were left with large losses and regulators stepped up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":24167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[233,246,245,1589],"class_list":["post-24168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho","tag-russian"],"yoast_head":"\nCrypto crime hit record US$20 billion in 2022 - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Illicit use of cryptocurrencies hit a record US$20.1-billion last year as transactions involving companies targeted by U ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crypto crime hit record US$20 billion in 2022\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Illicit use of cryptocurrencies hit a record US$20.1-billion last year as transactions involving companies targeted by U ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-17T09:00:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-17T09:22:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1673933477.53.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"798\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Crypto crime hit record US$20 billion in 2022\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-17T09:00:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-17T09:22:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022\"},\"wordCount\":379,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1673933477.53.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\",\"Russian\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022\",\"name\":\"Crypto crime hit record US$20 billion in 2022 - Lesotho\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1673933477.53.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-17T09:00:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-17T09:22:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Illicit use of cryptocurrencies hit a record US$20.1-billion last year as transactions involving companies targeted by U ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1673933477.53.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1673933477.53.jpg\",\"width\":1536,\"height\":798,\"caption\":\"Crypto crime hit record US$20 billion in 2022\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Crypto crime hit record US$20 billion in 2022\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\",\"name\":\"Lesotho\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Crypto crime hit record US$20 billion in 2022 - Lesotho","description":"Illicit use of cryptocurrencies hit a record US$20.1-billion last year as transactions involving companies targeted by U ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Crypto crime hit record US$20 billion in 2022","og_description":"Illicit use of cryptocurrencies hit a record US$20.1-billion last year as transactions involving companies targeted by U ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022","og_site_name":"Lesotho","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-01-17T09:00:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-01-17T09:22:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1536,"height":798,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1673933477.53.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Crypto crime hit record US$20 billion in 2022","datePublished":"2023-01-17T09:00:35+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-17T09:22:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022"},"wordCount":379,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1673933477.53.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Lesotho","Lesotho","Russian"],"articleSection":["all news","miscellaneous"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022","name":"Crypto crime hit record US$20 billion in 2022 - Lesotho","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1673933477.53.jpg","datePublished":"2023-01-17T09:00:35+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-17T09:22:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Illicit use of cryptocurrencies hit a record US$20.1-billion last year as transactions involving companies targeted by U ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1673933477.53.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1673933477.53.jpg","width":1536,"height":798,"caption":"Crypto crime hit record US$20 billion in 2022"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/crypto-crime-hit-record-us20-billion-in-2022#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Crypto crime hit record US$20 billion in 2022"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/","name":"Lesotho","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}