Illicit crypto wallets received an estimated $158bn in currency last year, the highest level observed in five years, according to TRM Labs.
The blockchain analytics firm said the figure represents a 145% increase on the previous year ($64.5bn), although admitted that changes to its methodology mean direct historical comparisons are problematic.
A report from Chainalysis late last week arrived at a similar figure for 2025: $154bn. It claimed the annual increase in 2025 was an even higher 162%.
According to TRM Labs, the year-on-year (YoY) increase can be explained by several factors:
- An increase in sanctions-evading activity by the likes of Venezuela, Iran and (especially) Russia, as Western governments stepped up embargoes. The value of crypto connected to this surged by over 400% YoY
- Improved identification of illegal crypto activity through the Beacon Network
- A small number of large-scale “hacks” like the raid of Bybit by North Korean actors
- Growth in blocklisted activity across multiple crime types, thanks in part to greater enforcement by stablecoin issuers (especially Tether). These targeted wallets linked to sanctions evasion, terrorism financing, fraud and hacking
- A modest increase in crypto flows related to darknet markets (up 20% YoY) and illicit goods and services (12%)
Read more on cryptocurrency-related crime: North Korea Steals Over $2bn in Crypto in 2025
As in the Chainalysis reports, TRM Labs caveated its findings by saying the figures would likely be revised upwards as more intelligence about 2025 activity becomes available. For example, TRM’s estimate for 2023 rose from $34.8bn at publication to over $58bn as new data emerged.
“As investigations progress, new sanctions are issued, cases are unsealed, and additional information becomes public, previously unknown wallets and transactions are frequently linked to illicit actors,” it explained.
“As a result, overall estimates of illicit volume tend to increase over time. Readers should therefore view the figures in this report as a dynamic baseline rather than a fixed measurement.”
A Relatively Small Problem
However, the good news is that this kind of illicit activity is on the decline, as a share of total blockchain flows, meaning bad actors “absorbed a smaller proportion of new capital entering the crypto ecosystem” last year.
“Measured as a share of total attributed on-chain volume, illicit activity fell slightly to 1.5% in 2025 from 1.7% in 2024, well below the 2023 high of 3.5%,” the report noted.
“When we contextualize illicit activity relative to incoming liquidity, a similar trend emerges: illicit entities received 2.7% of incoming VASP [virtual asset service provider] flows in 2025, compared with 2.9% in 2024 and 6.0% in 2023.”