Mitrade Insights is dedicated to providing investors with rich, timely and most valuable financial information to help investors grasp the market situation and find timely trading opportunities.

2021

Best News & Analysis Provider

FxDailyInfo

2022

Best Forex Educational Resources Global

International Business Magazine

Insights

News

Cryptocurrencies

Crypto laundering soars to $1.3 billion in 2024, a 280% surge – PeckShield

Source Cryptopolitan

Cryptocurrency laundering reached $1.3 billion in 2024, marking a 280% increase from the $342 million recorded in 2023, according to a new report from blockchain security firm PeckShield.

The surge in laundering activities coincides with the broader upward trend in cryptocurrency prices throughout the year. The total impact of crypto security breaches in 2024 exceeded $3.01 billion, representing a 15% increase from the $2.61 billion stolen in 2023.

The scale of crypto security breaches

Cryptocurrency hacks in 2024 surpassed 300 recorded incidents, with total losses reaching $2.15 billion. This is a 30% increase from the $1.51 billion stolen in 2023. May emerged as the most volatile month, with attackers stealing $574.6 million across 28 separate hacks.

The Ethereum blockchain bore the heaviest losses, accounting for 47.3% of the total value stolen and 34.8% of all incidents. The gaming sector faced particular pressure, with losses totaling $502 million, primarily due to the PlayDapp exploit, which resulted in a $290 million theft.

Source: PeckShield

The data from PeckShield indicates a shift in attack patterns, with hackers increasingly targeting organizational infrastructure rather than protocol vulnerabilities. This trend now represents 46% of all attacks, up from 33% in 2023. Bitcoin-related thefts also increased, correlating with the cryptocurrency’s price appreciation throughout the year.

Recovery efforts managed to secure $488.5 million of the stolen funds, though this represents only 23% of the total losses. The persistence of these attacks, despite enhanced security measures, underscores the ongoing challenges faced by the cryptocurrency industry in protecting digital assets.

Laundering mechanisms by crypto hackers

PeckShield’s analysis reveals two primary methods criminals used to obscure stolen cryptocurrency in 2024. Chain hopping combined with centralized exchange (CEX) transfers accounted for 24.7% of laundering activities, processing approximately $452 million worth of stolen assets. Coin mixing services handled 25.5% of illicit funds, processing $468 million throughout the year.

The rise in crypto prices created additional opportunities for laundering operations, as higher valuations made it easier to process large amounts through multiple smaller transactions. Criminals used increasingly complex routes, often splitting stolen funds across multiple chains and services to avoid detection. The analysis tracked money flows through more than 50 different platforms and services.

On-chain data shows criminals frequently used cross-chain bridges and decentralized exchanges as intermediate steps before reaching their final destinations. The complexity of these operations often delayed fund recovery efforts, with law enforcement and security teams requiring extensive resources to track and freeze compromised assets.

From Zero to Web3 Pro: Your 90-Day Career Launch Plan

Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Recommended Articles

Gold ends three-week slide at the $4,400 line — eight straight days of ETF inflows vs a 5% 10-year and a 100 dollar Spot gold closed Friday at $4,378.39, up 0.84% on the day and about 0.8% for the week — its first weekly gain in four weeks — with the intraday high of $4,399.67 leaving it 33 cents shy of the $4,400 line. Gold ETFs have now logged eight straight sessions of inflows, but with the 10-year back above 5% and the dollar index near 100, here is what decides whether this is a reversal or a bounce.

Author Suzie

Sep 20, Sun

Spot gold closed Friday at $4,378.39, up 0.84% on the day and about 0.8% for the week — its first weekly gain in four weeks — with the intraday high of $4,399.67 leaving it 33 cents shy of the $4,400 line. Gold ETFs have now logged eight straight sessions of inflows, but with the 10-year back above 5% and the dollar index near 100, here is what decides whether this is a reversal or a bounce.

October hike odds climb toward 60% as Goldman and BofA both flip — what Warsh's "dose of accommodation" really changed Rate futures now price roughly 55% to 62% for a 25bp hike at the October 27-28 FOMC, up from about 30% before Chair Warsh's post-meeting framing that the Fed is merely "removing some accommodation." Goldman Sachs has added an October hike to its forecast and Bank of America now sees moves in both October and December. Here is the repricing, the language behind it, and the two data points that decide it.

Author Irene Q.

Sep 23, Wed

Rate futures now price roughly 55% to 62% for a 25bp hike at the October 27-28 FOMC, up from about 30% before Chair Warsh's post-meeting framing that the Fed is merely "removing some accommodation." Goldman Sachs has added an October hike to its forecast and Bank of America now sees moves in both October and December. Here is the repricing, the language behind it, and the two data points that decide it.

Four jobs reports in five days: what JOLTS, ADP, claims and the September payrolls mean for the October Fed decision The US labour market faces its densest data week of the month. JOLTS job openings land Tuesday (7.2 million expected), ADP on Wednesday (70,000 expected), initial claims on Thursday and the September non-farm payrolls on Friday (100,000 expected, down from 162,000). Markets price a 64%-70% chance of another quarter-point Fed hike on October 28. The dollar index sits at 100.77 and the S&P 500 at 7,729.8.

Author Mitrade

Yesterday 06: 33

The US labour market faces its densest data week of the month. JOLTS job openings land Tuesday (7.2 million expected), ADP on Wednesday (70,000 expected), initial claims on Thursday and the September non-farm payrolls on Friday (100,000 expected, down from 162,000). Markets price a 64%-70% chance of another quarter-point Fed hike on October 28. The dollar index sits at 100.77 and the S&P 500 at 7,729.8.

RBA set to hike interest rate to 4.60% in September as inflation remains elevated The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is widely expected to raise the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 25 basis points (bps) to 4.60% from 4.35% on Tuesday, after keeping rates unchanged at its previous two meetings

Author FXStreet

9 hours ago

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is widely expected to raise the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 25 basis points (bps) to 4.60% from 4.35% on Tuesday, after keeping rates unchanged at its previous two meetings

Nvidia's $150 billion buyback landed — and the AI sector fell anyway. That's the signal worth trading Nvidia closed up 1.68% at $228.86 on 28 September after announcing a $150 billion share repurchase authorisation, the largest single corporate buyback on record, while the rest of the AI complex sold off: AMD -3.6%, Micron -2.6%, Meta -4.8% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index -1.61%. The divergence is not noise. Capital is rotating toward cash-flow certainty, not abandoning the AI theme. With Micron reporting after the close on 30 September, here is what the split means.

Author Irene Q.

4 hours ago

Nvidia closed up 1.68% at $228.86 on 28 September after announcing a $150 billion share repurchase authorisation, the largest single corporate buyback on record, while the rest of the AI complex sold off: AMD -3.6%, Micron -2.6%, Meta -4.8% and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index -1.61%. The divergence is not noise. Capital is rotating toward cash-flow certainty, not abandoning the AI theme. With Micron reporting after the close on 30 September, here is what the split means.

Popular Symbols