The flows of illicit crypto reached a historical high of 154 billion dollars during the entire year of 2025. According to the annual crime report from the firm Chainalysis, this notable increase represents a 162% rise compared to the previous period. This unprecedented volume reflects a structural change in the behavior of various sanctioned nation-states. Likewise, state actors are actively seeking digital mechanisms to elude the controls imposed by western financial powers effectively.
In this sense, the increase was mainly driven by entities trying to evade international trade restrictions on a massive scale. Russia, for example, launched its own ruble-backed A7A5 token in February 2025 to facilitate these transfers. This specific digital asset processed more than 93.3 billion dollars in less than one full year.
Therefore, the on-chain criminal ecosystem has matured significantly by integrating government-level operations. Furthermore, criminal organizations take advantage of these parallel infrastructures to mobilize illicit capital.
Under this premise, the Global Sanctions Inflation Index estimated that there are nearly 80,000 persons and entities under restrictive measures currently. Only the United States government added a record number of participants to its financial blocking lists during the past year.
Economies under pressure use sophisticated cryptographic networks to maintain the continuity of their foreign trade. Thus, the number of detected sanctioned addresses continues growing constantly within public records. Also, these activities are hidden behind a facade of complex legitimate transactions.
The technological evolution of money laundering through stable digital assets
Stablecoins dominated illegal operations by representing 84% of all the volume transacted by criminals. These digital assets offer very efficient international transfers with a price stability superior to other volatile assets. Therefore, criminal groups prefer these tools due to their immediate liquidity and ease of exchange.
In this way, the use of stablecoins allows evading borders without going through traditional banking controls. On the other hand, the traceability of these movements remains a challenge for global regulators.
Nonetheless, despite the record figures, criminal activity represents only a minimal fraction of the total market volume. The vast majority of operations carried out with cryptocurrencies are linked to fully legal and transparent commercial activities.
The percentage of illicit transactions grew slightly compared to the records obtained during the year 2024. Therefore, experts expect an upward revision of these figures as new suspicious wallets are identified. Consequently, the industry must strengthen its security protocols to protect users.
Will digital money surpass fiat as the primary tool for organized crime?
Physical fiat money continues to be the preferred method for the movement of capital of doubtful origin. The United Nations Office estimates that criminal earnings represent approximately 3.6% of the world’s gross domestic product. Traditional paper money remains predominant due to its total anonymity in direct physical transactions.
It is also important to highlight that traditional financial systems move larger sums than any known decentralized network. For this reason, exclusively blaming digital technology is an incomplete analysis of economic reality.
On the other hand, the future of global financial integrity will depend on close cooperation between governments and technological service providers. Digital forensic analysis tools allow identifying a large part of the movements made by international hackers.
However, the development of sovereign tokens specifically designed to elude sanctions poses a complex legal challenge. In this way, the cryptographic industry will face stricter regulations during the coming months of 2026. Nevertheless, technological innovation will remain the key to detecting and preventing fraud in real time.
