‘Pig Butchering’ Scams Remain Dangerous Threat in Crypto Markets, Chainalysis Report Says

In 2024, it’s estimated that fraudulent activities dominate a significant portion of the billion-dollar cryptocurrency criminal market, as reported on Thursday. However, despite its large monetary value, this figure only accounts for less than 1% of the total on-chain value, according to Eric Jardines, the research lead at Chainalysis.

Various unlawful practices are becoming more prevalent, such as utilizing cryptocurrencies for child pornography and other forms of cybercrime. Fraudulent activities continue to make up the majority of such cases.

Because of the destructive impact pig butchering scams can have on people who own cryptocurrency wallets, it’s essential to stay vigilant. In pig butchering schemes, con artists first win their victims’ trust through affectionate gestures and other strategies before presenting them with a fraudulent investment offer and ultimately emptying their wallets.

Stealing the money is, however, only half the battle. Scammers need to exit their positions and centralized crypto exchanges, the most obvious off-ramp, have gotten better over the years at stomping some illicit activity.

Welcome to Huione Marketplace, managed by a Cambodian conglomerate. This online platform allows anyone to post listings for buying or selling a wide variety of items – even cryptocurrencies. It functions as a mediator, primarily transferring funds between buyers and sellers. However, it does not oversee who receives the money or its origin.

As a researcher, I’ve been closely monitoring our platform since 2021, and according to Chainalysis, we’ve handled an impressive $49 billion worth of cryptocurrency transactions during this period. However, it’s concerning that the company suggests that some of this activity could potentially be connected to illicit activities like crypto-related crimes such as pig butchering and money laundering schemes run by criminal groups.