Germany’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has reported a record surge in suspicious activity reports concerning cryptocurrencies. Despite overall SAR filings declining, the FIU received 8,711 crypto-related notifications in 2024, representing an increase of 8.2% compared to the previous year, as per Bloomberg. This rise reflects the growing popularity and use of digital assets for illicit activities.
The majority of flagged transactions involved Bitcoin (BTC), followed by Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), and Litecoin (LTC). These tokens were frequently associated with trading platforms, mixing services, and online gambling activity. The FIU highlighted that these types of transactions are often utilized to obfuscate the origins of illicit funds, underscoring the increasing role of cryptocurrencies in money laundering schemes.
This trend aligns with global concerns about the criminal use of cryptocurrency. Notably, the UK’s National Crime Agency reported that crypto exchanges were linked to 6.6% of all SAR filings during the 2023–24 period, while the total filings rose slightly to around 872,000. The UK also observed a surge in counter-terrorism financing reports and account freezing actions.
In the U.S., the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) received over 8,600 crypto-related SARs during fiscal year 2023, largely attributed to an advisory issued in September that led to increased weekly filings. This resulted in a total of 4.6 million SAR filings for the entire year.
Furthermore, Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm, reveals significant money laundering activity within the crypto ecosystem. In 2022, laundered crypto volumes reached $31.5 billion before falling to $22.2 billion in 2023. However, these figures still significantly exceed pre-2021 levels. Notably, Chainalysis observed a 15% decline in overall crypto transaction volume in 2023, yet a decrease of approximately 30% in laundered crypto volumes.
Despite this trend, it’s difficult to gauge if there was a true positive change in criminal activity using cryptocurrency. The criminal use of crypto remains largely stable at around $50 billion per year in 2022, 2023, and 2024, according to Chainalysis.