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2025 Record surge in illicit cryptocurrency flows and cybercrime-related inflows

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Illegal cryptocurrency flows surged to a record $158 billion in 2025, reversing a multi-year decline and signaling a broader resurgence in illicit on-chain activity. The increase matters because the total came alongside $2.87 billion in hacking losses, roughly $35 billion sent to scams, and continued ransomware-linked inflows. Even though illicit activity made up a slightly smaller share of total on-chain volume, the absolute scale of criminal crypto movement expanded sharply.

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Timeline

  1. 30.01.2026 20:49 3 articles · 5mo ago

    TRM Labs reports record $158 billion in illicit crypto flows in 2025

    Initial Disclosure

    TRM Labs reports that illegal cryptocurrency flows reached a record $158 billion in 2025 after a three-year decline, while illicit activity still represented a slightly smaller share of total on-chain volume. The same analysis ties the increase to sanctions-linked crypto activity involving Russia-associated networks such as A7 and the A7A5 stablecoin, expanded use of cryptocurrency by state-aligned actors including Russia, Iran, and Venezuela, and improved attribution and faster intelligence sharing that surfaced previously unattributed illicit flows. The report also records $2.87 billion in losses from 150 hacking incidents, about $35 billion sent to fraud schemes, and elevated ransomware activity with 161 active strains and 93 variants added in 2025.

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