New data suggests that crypto payments associated with ransomware—a kind of malware geared toward extortion—were on the rise in 2020.
In a newly published excerpt of its annual Crypto Crime Report, the blockchainblockchain data firm Chainalysis has said that criminal addresses received 311% more cryptocurrencycryptocurrency from ransomware in 2020 than they did in 2019. The report also warns that this is likely a conservative estimate, since Chainalysis is likely to identify more addresses connected to ransomware payments retroactively.
The company hedged similarly with last year’s figures: the Crypto Crime Report for 2019 posited that 1.1% of all crypto transactions were criminal—this year, it found the true number is more like 2.1%, or around $21.4 billion in assorted cryptocurrencies.
The report’s best guess for 2020 is 0.34%, which the report says will grow, too, as more scams are unearthed. If there’s good news, it’s that the starting point is significantly lower: around $10.0 billion.
And while payments connected with ransomware grew significantly this year, they still only account for 7% of that $10 billion. The vast majority of criminal crypto payments had to do with darknet markets and the general category of “scams.”
The report also offers a potential explanation for the increase in ransomware-connected payments during 2020. “Covid-prompted work-from-home measures,” it suggests, “opened up new vulnerabilities for many organizations.”
Bitcoin may have played a role in financing the January 6 riot at the Capitol, according to new research from blockchain data company Chainalysis.
In the days since hundreds of violent Trump supporters made their way into the seat of government, new information has emerged suggesting the riot was premeditated.
Now, Chainalysis reports that, on December 8, a donor sent 28.15 BTC, or around approximately $522,000 at the time it was transferred, to 22 separate addresses, many of which belonged to...
Ransomware programs have been aggressively targeting hospitals and schools during the pandemic, according to NPR and the Wall Street Journal, as attackers look to take advantage of vulnerable systems at vulnerable institutions.
Joshua Corman, a senior adviser at the Department of Homeland Security, told the Journalthat the concern with ransomware was more than just financial—attacks on medical facilities, he said, may “lead to a demonstrable loss of life.”
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A MetaMask stablecoin could debut as early as Thursday, a source knowledgeable of the initiative confirmed to Decrypt.
The Ethereum wallet provider, which will team up with payment services provider Stripe, will introduce the mmUSD stablecoin as the main trading pair for its various services, according to an Aave governance proposal that appeared last week but was subsequently deleted. DLNews first reported on the deleted proposal. Stablecoin platform M^0 is reportedly supporting the effort.
Me...
Grok was briefly suspended from X yesterday after stating that Israel and the U.S. were "complicit in genocide in Gaza," citing the International Court of Justice and UN sources.
Musk called the suspension a "dumb error" and quickly reinstated the bot.
it was just a dumb error. Grok doesn’t actually know why it was suspended.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 11, 2025
But what returned wasn't quite the same Grok.
The reinstated chatbot came back in a way that detected antisemitic dog whistles i...
AI protocol Qubic said it had taken control of Monero after a 51% attack on the privacy blockchain, potentially allowing the protocol's mining pool to manipulate transactions data and other information—although security experts cast doubt on the event's success.
The group said its “experiment” was successful and done to “help” the network protect itself against future attacks.
"Qubic has reached over 51% of Monero's hashrate, effectively giving it control of the network," the company said in an...