- Binance Research says illicit crypto transactions account for less than 1% of total on-chain transaction volume.
- More than $75 billion in illicit crypto funds remained on-chain in 2025, up about 28% from the previous year.
Binance Research has put new numbers behind one of crypto’s more uncomfortable realities. Illicit activity is still present on-chain, and the dollar amount is large. At the same time, it remains a small fraction of overall blockchain activity, with illicit transactions accounting for less than 1% of total on-chain volume.
Illicit funds remain large, but traceable
According to Binance Research, more than $75 billion in illicit crypto funds remained on-chain as of 2025. That is roughly 28% higher than in 2024 and shows that criminal-linked balances have not simply vanished from blockchain networks.
Illicit crypto sits below 1% of total transaction volume.
US$75B+ in dirty funds stuck on-chain.
Here’s why blockchain’s transparency has become the launderer’s worst enemy 🧵 pic.twitter.com/2MAHxHziXk
— Binance Research (@BinanceResearch) May 14, 2026
The important point is where those funds sit and how they move. Unlike cash, crypto often leaves a public trail. Even when assets are split across wallets, moved through bridges, routed into new addresses or layered through services, the ledger does not forget. Investigators may lose speed, but they do not necessarily lose the path.
Binance Research said more than 80% of illicit on-chain funds have already been moved to downstream addresses. In plain terms, the money is no longer sitting only in the original wallets tied to hacks, scams or other criminal activity. It has been pushed deeper into the network through follow-on addresses. That makes tracing harder, but not impossible.
This is where crypto differs sharply from the old narrative around anonymous money. Most major blockchains are transparent by design. Wallets may be pseudonymous, but transactions are public. Every hop creates another record, and every interaction with an exchange, bridge, stablecoin issuer or DeFi protocol can become a point of analysis.
That does not mean enforcement is easy. It is not. Criminals can move quickly, use cross-chain routes and exploit jurisdictions with weaker controls. But moving stolen or illicit assets across blockchains is not the same as erasing the evidence. In many cases, it creates more evidence.
Mixers face capacity limits
The report also points to a practical bottleneck in laundering. Major mixers have limited daily processing capacity. Binance Research estimated that laundering $1 billion in stolen funds through such channels could take more than 100 days.
That matters because time works against criminals. The longer funds remain visible, the more opportunities exchanges, stablecoin issuers and investigators have to flag wallets, freeze flows or block off-ramps. This is why large hacks often turn into long, slow movement patterns rather than instant clean exits.
The laundering process also carries market risk. If criminals try to move too much through limited channels, they can attract attention. If they wait, prices can move against them. If they touch regulated platforms, compliance systems may catch the funds. That is why major stolen balances sometimes remain dormant for long periods, even when the original theft happened months or years earlier.
For the crypto industry, the numbers cut both ways. The sub-1% figure helps counter the claim that blockchains are mainly used for crime. Most on-chain activity is not illicit. But $75 billion is still a serious figure, and it cannot be brushed aside as a rounding error.
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