CipherTrace: 97% of criminal bitcoins are sent to unregulated exchanges

Research • October 11, 2018, 9:44AM EDT
The Block

Blockchain analytics and cybersecurity firm CipherTrace released its Q3 2018 Cryptocurrency Anti-money Laundering Report analyzing 45 million transactions at 20 global cryptocurrency exchanges between January 2009 and September 2018. According to the report:

  • 97% of crime-associated bitcoins were received by cryptocurrency exchanges located in countries with weak anti-money laundering laws.
  • 4.7% of bitcoins received by exchanges in countries with weak regulation are criminal
  • In the first three quarters of 2018, $927M of cryptocurrency was stolen by hackers, 3.5 times larger than thefts in 2017.

(Source: CipherTrace)