Odaily Planet Daily News According to a new study, fewer and fewer cybercriminals are using Bitcoin as their primary means of transferring illicit funds, instead opting for fiat currency channels or opting for other cryptocurrencies.

Digital asset compliance and risk management firm TRM Labs revealed in its "Illegal Encryption Ecosystem Report" released on June 28 that the proportion of illicit transactions involving Bitcoin has dropped significantly over the past seven years.
According to TRM Labs, a new multi-chain era has led to dramatic changes in Bitcoin's role as the primary means of transferring criminal proceeds. The firm also emphasized that cash and other forms of fiat currency-related funding remain the "default" means of criminal money flow. And while illicit activity involving cryptocurrencies has increased, “cryptocurrencies did not invent these forms of crime.”
The firm reports that in 2022, roughly $2 billion in cryptocurrencies will be stolen through attacks on cross-chain bridges, but very little of that will be bitcoin.
“The multi-chain era has had a sweeping impact on the overall distribution of the share of cryptocurrency-related illicit transactions,” the report noted, adding that Bitcoin’s share of illicit transactions plummeted from 97 percent in 2016 to 19 percent in 2022. (Cointelegraph)