In 2025, the total volume of illegal cryptocurrency transactions reached a record $158 billion, marking a 145% increase over the year. This is reported by the analytics firm TRM Labs.
Despite the rise in absolute figures, the share of "dirty" money in the overall transaction flow decreased from 1.3% in 2024 to 1.2% in 2025.
Analysts also introduced a new metric assessing risk relative to available liquidity rather than total transaction volume. By this measure, illegal actors seized 2.7% of the active capital in the crypto ecosystem.
Sanctions and Policy
The main driver of growth was the activity of sanctioned jurisdictions and individuals, with transaction volumes in this sector soaring by over 400%.
For transactions, criminals and sanctioned entities predominantly used "stablecoins," particularly USDT.
Hacks and Infrastructure Attacks
Over the year, hackers stole $2.87 billion across nearly 150 incidents. Although the total number of attacks decreased, the average damage increased due to the targeting of larger entities.
The hack of the Bybit exchange in February 2025 netted hackers $1.46 billion, accounting for 51% of all stolen funds that year.
Criminals shifted their focus from exploiting vulnerabilities in smart contracts to compromising operational infrastructure (such as stealing private keys and accessing servers).
Fraud and Ransomware
The volume of funds sent to fraudulent addresses reached $35 billion, with financial pyramids and "romantic" schemes leading the way.
Fraudsters are increasingly using artificial intelligence to create deepfakes and automate communication with victims. The money laundering process has also accelerated, with criminals attempting to move assets through cross-chain swaps within 48 hours.
In 2025, 93 new variants of ransomware emerged—94% more than the previous year. The increase in groups coincided with law enforcement actions against major players like LockBit: the ecosystem fragmented, and the entry barrier lowered due to the RaaS model.
TRM Labs analysts conclude that cryptocurrencies have ceased to be a niche tool and have deeply integrated into the global financial system, attracting both legitimate businesses and criminals.
It is worth noting that from 2020 to 2025, the volume of money laundering through digital assets grew from $10 billion to $82 billion, as highlighted by Chainalysis.