Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Elliptic Report Shows Cross-Chain Crime Reaches $21.8B
Crypto Crime | July 16, 2025
Image: The State of Cross Chain Crime in 2025 (Elliptic Report Cover)
Crypto Laundering Across Chains Has Tripled Since 2023
Just in, according to Elliptic’s State of Cross-Chain Crime 2025 report, illegal activity involving decentralized exchanges, bridges, and swap services reached $21.8 billion in 2025 so far, more than 3x the figure in 2023 ($7 billion) and 5x in 2022 ($4 billion). This trend highlights how criminals are exploiting DEXs, cross-chain bridges, and coin swap services to hide money transfers across multiple blockchains.
Chain-Hopping Is Now Standard
Elliptic reports that 33% of complex crypto crime investigations use more than 3 blockchains. Another 27% involve over 5 blockchains, while 20% span more than 10. Chain-hopping is a technique that allows criminals, both big and small, to move assets quickly from one chain to another to confuse investigators.
See: Anatomy of Rising Deepfake Scams in Crypto and Fintech
In one confirmed case, a North Korean related wallet moved stolen funds through Bitcoin, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, and Tron, all in succession with that single operation using a total of 48 coordinated swaps.
Coin Swap Services Fuel Ransomware, Gambling, and Sanctions Evasion
Coin swap platforms have become a preferred laundering tool for ransomware groups, darknet markets, and offshore gambling operations. Unlike DEXs or bridges, these services are centralized, often use privacy-focused Telegram chat service, and allow anonymous swaps between chains with no KYC.
Some operate in regions under sanctions, including Crimea. Elliptic also confirmed that North Korean hackers laundered $200 million of the $1.46 billion Bybit theft through a service called eXch. The platform refused to cooperate with law enforcement and was later shut down by German and Dutch authorities.
Compliance Must Match the Speed of Crime
Many of the methods used by criminals involve a mix of asset swaps, bridges, gas fee financing, and privacy coins. Elliptic's report confirms that over 300 bridge combinations are being traced automatically using virtual value transfer events (VVTEs), a forensic analytics method developed by Elliptic to automatically trace the source and destination of cross-chain transactions, especially those that pass through bridges.
See: The Role of Shell Companies in Money Laundering & How to Combat Them
This automation is a lifeline to investigations and allows regulators, compliance teams, and law enforcement to trace cross-chain fund flows in seconds instead of hours. Elliptic now supports more than 50 blockchains, making it one of the most comprehensive tools available for risk detection.
Conclusion
The scale and speed of illicit activity are outpacing traditional compliance methods. Without updated tools and policies, Canadian fintechs and financial institutions face rising legal, reputational, and regulatory risk. It feels like we've been saying this for a while now, but the use of advanced tracking, wallet screening, and automated compliance solutions are no longer optional, and in fact essential for protecting the integrity of Canada's growing digital finance sector.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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