A brand new report by blockchain compliance agency Bitrace has revealed that $649 billion in stablecoin transactions handed by way of high-risk addresses in 2024.
The determine accounts for barely greater than 5% of all stablecoin exercise for that yr, which, whereas a slight decline from 2023’s numbers, stays alarmingly greater than ranges seen in 2021 and 2022.
The Dominance of USDT and the Rise of USDC in Illicit Exercise
On the coronary heart of the Bitrace findings is an in depth breakdown of criminal activity throughout platforms primarily based on Ethereum and Tron, the place stablecoins resembling Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC are dominant.
In keeping with the report, USDT on TRON maintained its grip as the primary automobile for dangerous transfers, with Ethereum-based stablecoins additionally seeing elevated exercise. A lot of the alleged misuse stemmed from the booming on-line playing trade, which processed $217.8 billion in stablecoin inflows in 2024. This was a 17.5% enhance from the earlier yr.
Fraud-related inflows additionally exploded to $52.5 billion, surpassing the cumulative whole of earlier years, which amounted to $2.13 billion in 2021, $4.28 billion in 2022, and $12.88 billion in 2023.
In the meantime, cash laundering accounted for $86.3 billion, a $31 billion drop from its 2023 stage of $118.02 billion, however on par with 2022’s $84.96 billion. The report instructed that the decline was seemingly because of rising regulatory scrutiny and enforcement actions within the final two years. Centralized exchanges resembling OKX additionally noticed a dip of their share of laundering-related inflows, presumably indicating a tightening of their compliance protocols.
Apparently, regardless of being issued by a U.S.-regulated firm, USDC’s share in these flows additionally greater than doubled, leaping from 5.22% in 2023 to 13.36% in 2024. Nonetheless, to their credit score, Tether and Circle reportedly froze greater than $1.3 billion in illicit stablecoins final yr, twice the quantity they managed to withhold between 2021 and 2023.
Stablecoins Are Going Mainstream
The discharge of the Bitrace report comes at a time when stablecoins are making headlines for fully totally different causes. Only recently, Mastercard unveiled its new “end-to-end stablecoin cost system,” promising seamless international transactions by way of integrations with main platforms like OKX, Crypto.com, and Circle.
The initiative will enable customers to spend stablecoins like USDC at over 150 million retailers all over the world, highlighting the extent at which digital currencies have gotten embedded into each mainstream and crypto-native economies.
Legislative wheels are additionally turning, with the STABLE Act passed by way of the U.S. Home Monetary Providers Committee earlier within the month.
The invoice is designed to extra rigorously regulate stablecoin issuers by requiring banking charters and stricter oversight. If it turns into legislation, it will set up a long-desired regulatory framework for an trade that has typically operated inside a authorized grey zone.
Binance Free $600 (CryptoPotato Unique): Use this link to register a brand new account and obtain $600 unique welcome supply on Binance (full details).
LIMITED OFFER for CryptoPotato readers at Bybit: Use this link to register and open a $500 FREE place on any coin!