despite news that cryptocrime as % of transactions has its first decline amid record daytrading, i warn against optimism.
top categories of illicit activity remain the same as in 2023: Sanctions [avoidance]), Blocklisted, and Scams and Fraud.
first, the gop has cut resources for foreign cybercrime defense. as he told nato, trump is telling us to stop individually freeloading on the american gov for firstline protection, despite that its all american taxpayer money.
next, what is being excluded from this report leaves plenty of room to drive gop-sized propaganda through :"The following are excluded from our estimate of illicit cryptocurrency volume:
1. Proceeds from crimes initially conducted in fiat currency and subsequently converted into cryptocurrency ...
2. Transfers to blockchain addresses that have not been linked to illicit activities....
3. Transfers related to the laundering of illicit crypto proceeds..."
e.g., 2 intl cybercrime syndicates can simply construct new addresses for a major wealth exchange. the xfer can be publicly seen but not the underlying c2c connection.
https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6082dc5b670562507b3587b4/6823baf9045160ea474b3f7a_TRM_2025 Crypto Crime Report.pdf
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