AGS NEWS – A recent Chainalysis report indicates a significant drop of 29% in money laundered through cryptocurrency exchanges in 2023.

The report, released on Thursday, highlights a decrease from $31.5 billion in 2022 to $22.2 billion in 2023.

According to the blockchain research platform, this decline can be attributed to a reduction in both legitimate and illicit crypto transaction volumes.

The report underscores that centralized exchanges remained the primary destination for funds from illicit addresses, a trend consistent over the past five years.

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However, there’s been a notable shift with a growing share of illicit funds directed towards Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols.

Chainalysis attributes this shift to the increasing transparency of DeFi platforms, making them less attractive for concealing fund movements.

While the breakdown of service types for money laundering in 2023 closely resembles that of 2022, Chainalysis notes a slight decrease in the share of illicit funds going to illicit service types.

Instead, there’s been an increase in funds directed towards gambling services and bridge protocols.

Chainalysis reveals that 109 exchange deposit addresses received over $10 million worth of illicit cryptocurrency each in 2023, collectively amounting to $3.4 billion.

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This marks a significant increase compared to 2022 when only 40 addresses received over $10 million, totaling just under $2.0 billion.