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- Binance research estimates that non-crypto trading accounts for less than 1% of the total volume on the chain.
- More than $75 billion in restricted cryptocurrencies remained on-chain in 2025, up 28% from last year.
Binance Research has put new statistics behind one of the most unsavory crypto trends. Illegal transactions still exist on the chain, and the dollar amount is high. At the same time, it remains a small fraction of the entire blockchain activity, with unofficial transactions accounting for less than 1% of the chain’s total volume.
Restricted funds remain large, but available
According to Binance Research, more than $ 75 billion in illegal cryptocurrencies remained on the chain as of 2025. This is about 28% more than in 2024 and shows that the money associated with criminals has not just disappeared. blockchain networks.
Illegal crypto accounts for less than 1% of the total amount of money.
US$75B+ in dirty money stuck on the chain.
This is why blockchain transparency has become the worst enemy of launderers 🧵 pic.twitter.com/2MAHxHziXk
– Binance Research (@BinanceResearch) May 14, 2026
The important point is where the money is and how it flows. Unlike money, crypto often leaves a public trail. Even if assets are split between wallets, move bridges, move to new addresses or be tracked by services, the ledger never forgets. Explorers may lose speed, but they don’t lose direction.
Binance research said that more than 80% of off-chain funds have already been transferred to downstream addresses. In plain words, money is no longer in original wallets that are tied to hacks, scams or other crimes. It is pushed deep into the network through tracking addresses. This makes the search difficult, but not impossible.
This is where crypto diverges from the old story of anonymous currencies. Many major blockchains appear in production. Wallets may be public, but transactions are public. Each jump creates another profile, and each interaction with an exchange, bridge, stablecoin provider or DeFi protocol can be a point of reference.
This does not mean that enforcement is easy. It is not. Criminals can move quickly, use cross-border tactics and exploit weak authorities. But moving stolen or illegal assets across blockchains is not the same as erasing evidence. In most cases, it creates a lot of evidence.
Compounds face energy limits
The report also shows a real failure in washing. The main ingredients have a small amount of daily energy. Binance’s research says that a $1 billion withdrawal through such methods could take more than 100 days.
This is important because time is against criminals. The longer the money appears, the more opportunities there are, stablecoin donors and researchers have to put bags in the bag, turn off the flow or block the flow. That’s why big hacks often turn into long, slow-moving processes rather than immediate releases.
The offloading process also has market risk. If criminals try to move more through less channels, they can attract attention. If they wait, prices may move against them. If they affect managed platforms, tracking systems can capture the money. That’s why stolen large scales sometimes remain empty for long periods of time, even when the original theft took place months or years earlier.
For the crypto industry, numbers cut both ways. The 1% figure helps to refute the claim that blockchains are widely used in crime. Multiple transactions on the chain are not allowed. But $75 billion is still a large number, and cannot be dismissed as a rounding error.
