🖥 Chainalysis analysts have calculated that over the last 5 years, approximately $100 billion in "dirty" crypto has been sent to crypto exchanges. About a third of these funds are attributed to sanctioned crypto services, while the remaining volume belongs to the darknet, various types of criminal activities, drainer programs, and malware.

At the same time, "dirty crypto" is mostly concentrated on the largest crypto exchanges, but scammers have also utilized DeFi applications, gambling sites, crypto mixers, and cross-chain bridges for money laundering. The number of "dirty" coins is high. According to the latest Chainalysis data, the volume of illegal transactions using BTC exceeded $2.8 billion per year. This seems like a significant amount, but against the backdrop of the annual volume of illegal transactions of $1-$2 trillion, it is a fraction of a percent.

1️⃣ How can one receive "dirty" tokens?

Exchanges keep records of risky transactions, stolen tokens, and wallet addresses involved in criminal activity. Perpetrators are well aware of this, so they try to exchange them for other clean cryptocurrencies or withdraw them into fiat. Often, "dirty crypto" is used to pay for services or products.

Before reaching the final recipient, coins go through a long chain of transactions. Scammers run them through mixer services, split them into parts, and use unregulated platforms, prepaid debit cards, and gambling sites. Thus, "dirty assets" can end up in wallets not only of scammers. A law-abiding user may quite accidentally become the owner of such "dirty cryptocurrency" — by receiving it as payment or buying it on unregulated platforms.

🟠 Why is "dirty cryptocurrency" dangerous?

The problem is that if "dirty" cryptocurrencies enter your wallet, the rest of the coins in it will be compromised — the exchange will assign an increased risk level to the entire wallet. Exchange security systems regard all assets and transactions of the address as equally "dirty" and suspicious. As a result, assets may be blocked on the account if the wallet belongs to an exchange. In some jurisdictions, for example, the USA, the user may face a heavy fine.

🔍 Upon seeing a risky transaction, regulated exchanges will require proof of the origin of funds (you have most likely already passed verification). Until all circumstances are clarified, they will simply block the account — this is stated in the user agreement.

ℹ️ Therefore, if you conduct a large number of crypto operations, we advise checking every received transaction and all transactions of counterparties. If help is needed, Info Alliance AML officers (https://t.me/infoalliance_support) will be happy to consult you on all possible questions!

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