Stablecoins emerge as the cornerstone of illicit crypto activity in 2024 (Bitcoin.com)

Chainalysis projects that the total volume of illicit crypto transactions for 2024 could surpass $51 billion, of which 63% involved stablecoins. This is part of a broader ecosystem trend in which stablecoins also occupy a sizable percentage of all crypto activity, due to their wide array of practical use cases in a range of markets. The upside from a financial integrity perspective, is that stablecoin issuers can and do freeze funds if they are made aware of their use by illicit actors. For example, Tether has frozen addresses of concern linked to scams, terrorist financing, and sanctions evasion, which can make stablecoins a poor tool for the transfer of value by illicit actors. Nonetheless, despite these ecosystem-wide trends, some forms of crypto crime, such as ransomware and darknet market sales, remain BTC-dominated. [Read more at Chainalysis]

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