Nearly half of illicit crypto volume happened on Justin Sun’s Tron last year, report says
- In 2023, the Tron blockchain hosted 45 per cent of all illicit cryptocurrency volume, up from 41 per cent in 2022, according to analytics firm TRM Labs
- While bitcoin is still dominant in drug sales, transaction volume that used the Tron blockchain ‘more than quadrupled’ from the year before last year
The total volume of illicit cryptocurrency transactions around the world saw a decline last year, but crime-related funds had an increasing preference for Chinese crypto mogul Justin Sun’s Tron blockchain, a new report has found.
In 2023, the Tron blockchain hosted 45 per cent of all illicit cryptocurrency volume, up from 41 per cent in 2022, according to a research report published by blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs on Wednesday.
The use of Tron became more prominent in both drug sales and terrorist financing, the firm said.
The number of blockchain addresses linked to terrorist financing activities on Tron that received the stablecoin Tether (USDT) rose by 125 per cent in 2023, according to the report. Tether remains the most used stablecoin in criminal activities, TRM Labs said.
While bitcoin is still dominant in drug sales, transaction volume that used the Tron blockchain “more than quadrupled” from the year before last year, according to the firm.
Bitcoin also remains online fentanyl sellers’ most popular choice of cryptocurrency, but Tron token TRX recorded the highest growth with a nearly tenfold increase in volume, TRM Labs also said.