Report: Stablecoin transfers related to illegal activities reached $649 billion in 2024

Source: Cointelegraph Original: "Report: Stablecoin Transfers Related to Illegal Activities Reached $649 Billion in 2024"

According to a report on April 29, cryptocurrency compliance company Bitrace found that approximately $649 billion in stablecoins will flow through addresses classified as high-risk in 2024.

Bitrace defines high-risk blockchain addresses as addresses used by illegal entities to receive, transfer, or store stablecoins.

Cryptocurrency compliance companies typically score wallet addresses based on the likelihood of involvement in illegal activities. The higher the risk, the greater the likelihood of malicious behavior, and the less likely compliant crypto companies are to accept these assets.

According to the report, this amount accounts for approximately 5.14% of all stablecoin trading volume in 2024. In comparison, it is a decrease of 0.8% from the previous year's 5.94%, but significantly higher than 2.8% in 2022 and 1.63% in 2021.

The dollar stablecoin USDT, based on Tron, dominates high-risk stablecoin trading. Data from Bitrace indicates that over 70% of the trading volume flows on this network. The remaining high-risk stablecoin trading is mainly based on Ethereum's USDT and a small amount of USDC.

The reason USDT is widely used may be its market capitalization and adoption rate being higher than that of other stablecoins. As of now, CoinMarketCap shows that USDT's market capitalization exceeds $148 billion, while USDC's market capitalization exceeds $62 billion.

However, the popularity of Tron is not easy to explain. Ethereum remains the more popular choice for most stablecoin users. According to DefiLlama, the amount of stablecoins circulating on the network is nearly $124.3 billion, while Tron ranks second at about $71 billion, which is almost 43% less than Ethereum.

When only comparing USDT balances, Tron holds slightly more than Ethereum: 47.4% of USDT supply is on Tron, while Ethereum has 45.44%.

The Bitrace report states that in 2024, the total amount of stablecoins processed by online gambling platforms reached $217.8 billion, an increase of 17.5% compared to last year.

In this event, USDT once again took the dominant position. However, the market share of USDC rapidly increased, reaching 13.36% in 2024.

This data is consistent with recent reports, which show that despite regulatory authorities in key regions continuing to block access to these platforms, crypto casinos generated over $81 billion in revenue in 2024.

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