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Research by BanklessTimes.com – a news and information platform on the alternative finance industry – has revealed that a record high of $23.8 billion in cryptocurrency was laundered in 2022, a 68 percent increase year-on-year.

"Cryptocurrency laundering appeals to criminals not only because of the anonymous nature of the process, but also due to the ease and speed at which funds can be sent to anywhere in the world,” said Jonathan Merry, CEO of BanklessTimes.com.

Merry said that although the value involved in cryptocurrency money laundering may at first appear alarming, he highlighted that there are protocols in place to report suspicious activity. He said when compared to the amount of illicit funds involved in the traditional methods of finance, the digital money being laundered is significantly smaller.

In a statement sent to Financial Nigeria, the news and information platform said the decentralised nature of cryptocurrencies allows for faster transactions, but the anonymity they also provide creates perfect conditions for cyber criminals to execute their hacks and scams.

The statement said that, with cryptocurrencies becoming increasingly more mainstream, it is important to keep an eye on the illicit activities occurring in order to call for supplementary regulations to combat and control these activities.

Other key findings of the research include the common tactic of using intermediary services and wallets to hold funds on a temporary basis, swapping assets, and obfuscating the movement of money. Another tactic was using fiat off-ramps that allow cryptocurrency to be exchanged for fiat money like the British pound sterling and US dollar.

Since 2015, there has been more than $67.7 billion worth of cryptocurrency laundered for illicit purposes. In 2022, 57 percent of hackers handling stolen cryptocurrency sent funds to DeFi protocols – making it a more popular option than any other year. Almost all usage of DeFi protocols for money laundering was carried out by one criminal group of hackers stealing cryptocurrency known as the Lazarus group. The group alone stole $1.4 billion in assets, according to the research findings.