In 2021, the volume of money stolen by cryptocurrency crooks around the world stands at $ 7.7 billion, according to a report by analyst firm Chainalysis.
“This represents an 81% increase from 2020, a year in which scam activity has declined significantly from 2019, largely due to the lack of any large-scale Ponzi schemes. », Says Chainalysis.
This sharp increase in the “turnover” of “kidnappers” is explained, among other things, by the emergence of “rug pulls” which represent 37% of all cryptocurrency fraud revenues in 2021, against 1% in 2020. The expression refers to the “flight” of the founders or developers of a crypto project with the money of the investors.
Cryptocurrencies are still not yet regulated by legal monetary systems around the world. On the other hand, a few countries – including Nigeria in October 2021 – have recently launched a virtual version of their currencies.
