The price of cryptocurrencies has fallen so much that fraudsters are doing less
The cryptocurrency market has been in decline since the beginning of the year. For consumers and investors, this is terrible news — but perhaps a good thing about fraud.
We’ve known it for months: the cryptocurrency market is booming. bear market, that is, a long period during which prices fall. Since the beginning of the year, the prices of major cryptocurrencies have sometimes fallen by more than 50%, and the number of companies that have been forced to shut down has only increased. In short, it’s panic, and a lot of people just don’t want anything to do with cryptocurrencies anymore — not even scammers.
These are the conclusions of the Chainalysis study, published on August 16, 2022. For the first time since 2019, the use of cryptocurrencies has dropped dramatically, whether for legal or illegal transactions.
65% less income than 2021 for scammers
The volume of cryptocurrency transactions made in 2022 is significantly lower than in 2021: Chainalysis notes a 36% drop for legal transactions, compared to just 15% for illegal transactions. Therefore, it seems that the official cryptocurrency sector is more affected by the market price than by scammers.
Fraudsters continue to be hit by falling prices. A study by Chainalysis estimates that cybercrime revenue will be $1.6 billion in 2022, down 65% from the same time last year, when thieves collected just under $5 billion. ” This decline is certainly related to the decline in the price of cryptocurrencies “, says the study.
The fact that transaction volume has fallen less than revenue points to several things: there is less fraud, but above all, ” fewer people fall for scams “. The reason could be related to the fact that some of the most popular scams, fake investments, would no longer be as attractive as they were to victims just a few months ago.
This is not the first time that the fall in cryptocurrency prices in recent months has had a positive effect on fraud. In July, SonicWall researchers published a study explaining that, thanks to the fall in the value of Bitcoin, the number of attacks on ransomware he also fell.
Still, the decline in legal trading volume is a worrying indicator for the entire industry – but Chainalysis focuses on the positive. ” Nobody likes a bear marketbut the good news is that the illegal activities have disappeared along with the legal activities “, notes the study.
