Along with the rise in popularity of cryptocurrency trading worldwide, there has been a significant increase in the number of crypto scams or frauds. In the UK alone, there have been 34,305 allegations of criminal behavior involving cryptocurrencies since 2016.
Cybercrime is now a widespread issue on a global scale. The amount of criminality involving cryptocurrencies peaked in 2021. According to a Chainalysis analysis, a blockchain data company, criminals laundered $8.6 billion in cryptocurrencies in 2021, an increase of 30% from the year before.
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Since 2017, hackers have laundered nearly $33 billion in cryptocurrencies, with the majority of that amount eventually migrating to centralized exchanges. In contrast, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime calculates that up to 5% of the world’s GDP—or between $800 billion and $2 trillion—of fiat cash is laundered annually.
Nonetheless, where money is concerned, scams always follow. As a result, investors and traders will need to pay much closer attention to their trading as authorities from all over the world get numerous reports of fraud and scams involving cryptocurrency every day.
The United Kingdom is now ranked number 5 due to the massive hacking and fraud scams carried out within its borders. However, North Korea is at the top of the list for crypto criminality worldwide.
