A new Chainalysis report has said that crypto scam revenue has taken a beating since the beginning of the year. According to the new report from the analysis website, one reason for this is the bearish price of assets which has pushed newbies out of the market. In the statement from Chainalysis, the firm noted that the present revenue from stolen digital assets sits at $1.6 billion.
Crypto scams have declined since January
According to the Chainalysis report, the figure of the stolen funds since the beginning of the year signals a massive 65% drop compared to last year. However, the firm has connected the dwindling rate of crypto scams to the huge drop that digital assets have witnessed since the start of the year.
The report mentioned that the revenue from scams has been on the same trajectory as the price of Bitcoin and, at some point, even more. The company also mentioned that the number of transfers made to scam websites and individuals had dwindled drastically. According to an executive of the firm, scams are always on the high when the market is doing good. This way, scammers can promise investors mouth-watering returns to entice them.
Hacks are on the rise in the sector
According to the author of the Chainalysis report Eric Jardin, a market boom would entice new and inexperienced users to the crypto market, opening them up to crypto scams. However, he noted that the results are distorted because the biggest scams occurred in 2021, of which scammers netted more than $3 billion. Meanwhile, he also mentioned that the most significant crypto scam witnessed this year was around $270 million. The scam involved an e-cannabis investing website that revoked user access to its platform after taking their deposits.
Although scams have been quiet lately, there has been an exponential increase in the number of hacks being carried out in the crypto sector. Since the beginning of the year, a total of $1.9 billion has been made through hacks, with the highest being the Nomad hack. The attack saw the malicious actors cart away with more than $190 million at the beginning of this month.
