As the United States and other countries weigh the hope of building a national cryptocurrency reserve, new research from chainalysis suggests that governments can reach ten -ten -billion dollars that can recover onchain assets -a development that can interact with reserve discussions.
In a Report Published Thursday, chainalysis estimated that the crypto balances linked to the forbidden activity exceeded $ 75 billion. That total includes approximately $ 15 billion held directly by prohibited creatures and over $ 60 billion in purses with flow exposure to those creatures.
Blockchain Analytics company said Darknet Market Operators and vendors control over $ 40 billion in crypto assets in the blockchain.
About 75% of the total amount of prohibited is held in Bitcoin (Btc), although the stablecoins account for a growing part of such activity.
The chainalysis relates its findings to the creation of the US Trump administration of a strategic Bitcoin reserve and digital asset. These initiatives aim to expand federal crypto holders The budget-neutral waywhich may include forfeitures of the asset.
“(T) The cryptocurrency ecosystem presents law enforcement with an unscrupulous time: billions of dollars in prohibited income are sitting in public blockchains and theoretical seized if authorities can coordinate action,” the report said.
Chainalysis and CEO co-Founder Jonathan Levin said Bloomberg That numbers increase “forfeiture potential to a completely different level,” adding, “it changes how countries think.”
Somewhere else, Canada’s authorities recently acquired Approximately $ 40 million in digital assets from Tradeogre, a cryptocurrency exchange accused of running without registering and facilitating money losses. The action caused a strong criticism from members of the crypto community, which argued that the move was overstepped regulatory boundaries.
Related: Bybit hacker launders 100% of the stolen $ 1.4B crypto in 10 days
Blockchain Transparency Skews Perception of Crypto Crime
While crypto crime has increased in recent years, including There are many high -profile hacks Targeting major exchanges and service providers, its overall scale remains small.
According to Chainalysis’s 2025 Crypto crime reportProhibited transactions cost only 0.14% of all blockchain activities in 2024, a figure that has continued a downward trend from recent years.
Conversely, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Estimates That 2% -5% of the global GDP is destroyed by traditional financial systems.
Analysts said the one factor that crypto crime gets incredible attention is the transparency of blockchain networks, where each transaction can be monitored publicly. The visibility makes the prohibited activity easier, and therefore more reported than crimes involving cash or conventional banking systems.
As a relatively new technology, the crypto ecosystem also faces Serious regulation and investigation of implementationStrengthening the understanding of widespread guilt.
Related: Blockchain security must be localized to stop the Asian crime wave
