First, and most importantly, only a small portion of cryptocurrencies is used for illicit activities. This is much less than traditional finance, which can amount to up to 5% of global GDP according to the United Nations. According to analytics firm Chainalysis, money laundering accounts for less than 0.5% of all cryptocurrency transaction flows. This too has been steadily declining over time. Despite the increase in cryptocurrency use in 2023, the amount of money laundered in cryptocurrencies fell from $31.5 billion in 2022 to $22.2 billion in 2023. While a significant amount of illicit activity is unacceptable, it is inaccurate and trite to blame only cryptocurrencies as the bad guys.
