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6h ago

Chainalysis Maps $75 Billion in Illicit Crypto on Public Blockchains

The analysis points to a pivot away from exchange cash‑outs toward mixers and cross‑chain bridges that complicate recoveries for investigators.

Chainalysis maps $75b illicit crypto hidden in plain sight

Overview

  • Chainalysis identifies nearly $15 billion held in wallets directly tied to crime and about $60 billion in downstream addresses linked to those funds.
  • Darknet market administrators and vendors account for roughly $46.2 billion of the mapped holdings, underscoring the sector’s outsize footprint.
  • Bitcoin makes up about 75% of criminal balances and is often held for long periods, while stablecoin use is less concentrated due to issuer freeze risk.
  • Direct transfers from illicit wallets to centralized exchanges have fallen from around 40% in July 2022 to about 15% in 2025 as laundering routes shift.
  • Chainalysis says its data has supported $12.6 billion in seizures worldwide, and Coinspeaker reports that President Donald Trump issued executive orders to create U.S. programs for managing seized crypto.