Illicit Crypto Holdings Top $75B as Bitcoin Dominates: Chainalysis

A new Chainalysis study estimates that more than $75 billion in cryptocurrency linked to criminal activity is currently identifiable on public blockchains, presenting what the firm calls an unprecedented opportunity for coordinated asset ￰1￱ balances on public blockchains exceed $75B, with illicit entities holding $15B and downstream wallets holding $60B. See our comprehensive breakdown of the growing landscape of seizable crypto assets: ￰0￱ — Chainalysis (@chainalysis) October 9, 2025 The analysis focuses on static balances rather than transaction flows, arguing that the stock of assets sitting in wallets tied to illicit activity is the clearest indicator of what can be recovered ￰2￱ Balances Swell to $15B, Led by Stolen Funds As of July 2025, wallets directly attributed to illicit entities hold nearly $15 billion across Bitcoin, ether, and stablecoins—up roughly 359% since ￰3￱ funds are the single largest category by balance, reflecting the tendency of hackers to park assets while testing laundering routes or awaiting cash-out ￰4￱ the share of Bitcoin held by illegal actors has fallen in coin terms since 2020, BTC still represents about 75% of illicit entity balances by value, thanks to long-run price ￰5￱ and stablecoins have grown as a share of holdings, with stablecoins often used tactically as short-term liquidity during ￰6￱ $60B Downstream Shadow Economy Beyond the first hop, Chainalysis identifies over $60 billion sitting in “downstream” wallets—addresses that received more than 10% of their inflows from illicit sources—roughly four times the balances held by the illicit entities ￰7￱ market administrators and vendors account for over $40 billion of this total, showing how marketplace structures distribute wealth across operators and sellers and have benefited from a decade of crypto price ￰8￱ cautions that some laundering hubs and cross-chain bridges act primarily as transit points, so their standing balances may understate their centrality to criminal value chains.

Cash-Out Routes Fragment as Seizure Windows Shrink Centralized exchanges remain the preferred off-ramp, with illicit inflows averaging more than $14 billion per year since 2020 and nearing $7 billion in the first half of ￰9￱ criminals are adding layers to evade compliance: direct transfers from illicit wallets to exchanges have plunged from roughly 40% of quarterly flows in 2021–2022 to around 15% in Q2 ￰10￱ address reuse is also collapsing, indicating faster turnover of exchange ￰11￱ operations cease, liquidation speeds diverge by asset: nearly 95% of stablecoin balances drain within 90 days, about 87% for ether, and only ~52% for Bitcoin—leaving a longer runway to interdict BTC ￰12￱ Playbook: Converting Insight into Recoveries With Washington’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Assets Stockpile indicating a more aggressive seizure policy, Chainalysis argues that speed and coordination are now ￰13￱ recovery requires expedited seizure powers, cross-border information sharing, and technical capacity to trace funds across ￰14￱ company says its KYT and Reactor tools, along with its services arm, have already helped authorities seize more than $12.6 ￰15￱ headline figure—$15 billion in illicit-entity balances and over $60 billion downstream—suggests that with modernized workflows and clearer legal pathways, law enforcement can translate blockchain transparency into record-level recoveries.