Overview
- Illicit on-chain activity rose sharply in value but accounted for about 1.2% of total volume, TRM Labs reports.
- Russia-centered sanctions evasion dominated flows, with ruble-pegged stablecoin A7A5 handling roughly $72 billion and the A7 wallet cluster linked to more than $39 billion.
- TRM highlights sanctioned platforms including Garantex and related venue Grinex as part of the Russia-linked ecosystem routed through A7 networks.
- Stablecoins carried the vast majority of transfers to sanctioned actors, with volumes dropping on KYC exchanges and surging on decentralized services lacking such checks.
- Hacks and exploits totaled nearly $3 billion across about 150 incidents, with a February breach at Bybit responsible for roughly half of the losses, and DPRK-linked groups increasingly using infrastructure compromises and Chinese laundromats to launder funds.