First, and most critically, only a tiny fraction of crypto is used for illicit activity, far less than what we see in traditional finance, which could be 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 crypto transaction flows. This is also steadily declining over time. Even as crypto usage increased in 2023, the amount of money laundered in crypto fell from $31.5 billion in 2022 to $22.2 billion in 2023. No significant amount of illicit activity is acceptable, but to point the finger at crypto as the bad guy is both inaccurate and laborious.
