Elliptic: Cross-chain crypto crime to reach $21.8 billion in 2025, more than triple the 2023 figure

Elliptic's latest report shows that by 2025, approximately $21.8 billion in illicit funds have been transferred through decentralized exchanges, cross-chain bridges, and coin exchange services, more than tripling from $7 billion in 2023. Approximately $2.5 billion (12%) of this comes from North Korean hackers, and approximately $300 million comes from sanctioned Iranian crypto services. Previous data showed that the total value of on-chain illicit transactions in 2024 reached $45.0 billion, accounting for 0.4% of the total annual crypto transaction volume of $10.6 trillion. In the same year, the U.S. FBI disclosed that people lost $9.3 billion due to crypto scams, with people over 60 being the most vulnerable. [TheBlock]