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Richard Adrian
Jan 17, 2020
by Richard Adrian

Huobi and Binance Received at least 52% Illicit Bitcoin in 2019

Illicit Bitcoin
Binance and Huobi received at least 52% of a whopping $2.8 billion of illicit BTC transactions in 2019. The findings are according to a January 15 report by Chainalysis. The two largest crypto exchanges in the world received 27.6% and 24.7% of 2019 criminal transfers. Hence, both platforms are allegedly responsible for handling over half of illicit bitcoins and transaction -; whereas the total sum of all the other remaining exchanges adds to 47.8%. 

810 Wallets out of 300,000 criminal Wallets Transferred 75% of Illicit Bitcoin

300,000 individual accounts on Binance and Huobi took part in criminal activity in 2019. In addition, at least 1% of the wallets became responsible for a large part of the illicit bitcoin. Meanwhile, Chainalysis found out that 810 accounts received approximately 75% of the illicit Bitcoin on Huobi and Binance in 2019. 

OTC brokers Likely a Major source of illegal Bitcoin Transactions

Moreover, the New York research firm pointed out that most of the illicit accounts represented over-the-counter (OTC) brokers. This is because OTC traders envision deals that take place between two or more traders without exchange supervision. Meanwhile, some brokers could easily specialize in the provision of money laundering services to criminals. The firm went on to further note that OTC brokers also had loose Know Your Customer (KYC) standards than other crypto exchange platform. A situation that particularly appeals to criminals. 

In fact, out of the top hundred brokers that were providing money-laundering services, at least 70 were part of Huobi wallets. Chainalysis dubbed the top 100 OTC brokers as the “Rogue 100” claiming there are: 

"extremely active traders who have a huge impact on the cryptocurrency ecosystem.”

The Rogue 100 received steadily increasing amounts of cryptocurrencies every month since the 2017 crypto bubble. However, their activities surged in 2019. Particularly, a substantial amount of those traders took part in an alleged Chinese Ponzi Scheme PlusToken worth $3 billion. In fact, the list includes traders that account as much as one per cent of Bitcoin monthly transactions.

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Huobi and Binance Received at least 52% Illicit Bitcoin in 2019
Richard Adrian
Richard is a versatile fintech analyst with a deep understanding of blockchain domains. As much as technology fascinates him, he finds the intersection of both technology and finance mind-blowing. The firm belief that fintech will drive the future has brought him to the crossroads of Fintech discoveries and transmission of immutable data to a wider audience.

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