In a preview of its 2022 Crypto Crime Report, Chainalysis says that, overall, “roughly 74% of ransomware revenue in 2021 — over $400 million worth of cryptocurrency — went to strains we can say are highly likely to be affiliated with Russia in some way.”
Platforms operating mainly on the Russian crypto market launder the bulk of extorted funds, the US-based company further alleges, citing web traffic data as well. An estimated 13% of the funds sent from ransomware addresses to the service providers went to users believed to be residing in Russia. These crypto laundering activities exceed those in other regions, the authors note.
In a previous report, Chainalysis found that Eastern Europe is severely affected by illicit cryptocurrency-related activity. In relative terms, the region comes second after Africa in terms of exposure — but its overall crypto economy is much larger than that of Africa.
Report: Large share of global crypto crime comes from RussiaRead More
