Cyber: Crypto Wallets Received A Record $158 Billion In Illicit Funds Last...

Illegal cryptocurrency flows reached a record $158 billion in 2025, reversing a three-year trend of declining amounts from $86B in 2021 to $64B in 2024.

This sharp 145% increase is being reported by blockchain intelligence experts at TRM Labs, who noted that it comes despite the illicit activity share of the total on-chain volume actually falling slightly from 1.3% in 2024 to 1.2% in 2025.

According to TRM Labs, the spike in volumes can be attributed to:

TRM Labs has recorded a total of $2.87 billion in losses from 150 hacking incidents in 2025, with the top 10 accounting for 81% of all stolen value.

The most prolific was the February 2025 Bybit breach, attributed to North Korean hackers, which resulted in approximately $1.46 billion in losses.

Scam activity remained very high in 2025, with approximately $35 billion in cryptocurrency sent to fraud schemes throughout the year.

The sector was dominated by investment scams, which accounted for 62% of total inflows, including romance baiting, Ponzi schemes, and fake task scams.

TRM Labs observed a rise in the organization, professionalism, quality, and outreach of these scams, believed to be a result of using AI tools.

Finally, ransomware-linked cryptocurrency inflows remained elevated over the past year, although they did not reach the levels seen in previous years.

Although 2025 was a record year for victims listed on extortion portals, it appears that more and more victims are now resisting paying ransom to cybercriminals.

Source: BleepingComputer