Crypto Illicit Inflows Hit $158 Billion in 2025

Crypto-related illicit inflows reached an estimated $158 billion in 2025, rising nearly 145% from $64.5 billion a year earlier as sanctions-linked flows, major hacks and improved wallet attribution contributed to the increase.

The estimate tracks funds received by wallets and entities classified as illicit rather than total losses suffered by victims. Illicit activity represented 1.2% of attributed on-chain volume in 2025, down from 1.3% in 2024 and 2.4% in 2023. It accounted for 2.7% of incoming virtual-asset-service-provider liquidity, compared with 2.9% in 2024 and 6% in 2023.

Sanctioned entities and jurisdictions accounted for an estimated $93 billion in inflows. About $72 billion was associated with the Russia-linked A7A5 token, although the categories can overlap and should not be added to the broader total.

Criminals stole an estimated $2.87 billion across nearly 150 hacks. The Bybit breach accounted for $1.46 billion, or 51% of the total. A separate estimate placed total crypto theft at $3.4 billion because the measures use different definitions and methodologies.

Scam and fraud figures also vary. At least $14 billion in scam and fraud inflows was recorded on-chain, with the projected total exceeding $17 billion as additional illicit addresses are identified. The average scam payment rose from $782 in 2024 to $2,764 in 2025, a 253% increase.

Impersonation scams grew by more than 1,400% year over year. Operations linked to artificial-intelligence vendors generated average revenue of $3.2 million, compared with $719,000 for other scams.

About $35 billion flowed to fraud-linked wallets. Investment schemes represented 62% of those inflows, while stablecoins accounted for 84% of verified fraud inflows.

North Korea-linked hackers stole an estimated $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency during 2025. The figure covers a specific category of theft and is not a substitute for a single global loss total.

Operation HAECHI VI recovered $439 million in fiat currency and physical or virtual assets from April through August 2025 across 40 countries and territories. Authorities froze nearly 400 cryptocurrency wallets and recovered about $16 million in suspected illicit crypto profits.

Historical illicit-flow totals can rise as investigators identify additional wallets. The sanctions-linked, fraud-linked and overall illicit-flow estimates therefore should not be combined into a single measure of losses or net damage. The projected $17 billion scam estimate was covered previously in an earlier report on crypto financial-crime training.