Cryptocurrency scam revenue falls 65% in a year, new data shows

Despite the fact that many people in the cryptocurrency industry are anxious about reports about possible scams, a recent study has shown that the amount of scams that have occurred in the last year has actually been decreasing.

Indeed, the total revenue from scams in 2022 is presently estimated to be $1.6 billion, which is a 65% decrease from where it was at the end of July in 2021, according to a Chainalysis mid-year crypto crime report published on August 16.

Furthermore, this fall seems to be tied to decreasing prices across a variety of cryptocurrencies the blockchain data platform notes.

Number of scams reduce as Bitcoin price decreases

Since January 2022, the income from scams has decreased in a manner that is roughly consistent with the price of Bitcoin. 

Not only is the money generated by scams decreasing, but the total number of individual transactions that have been made to scammers thus far in 2022 is at its lowest point in the last four years.

Based on these figures, it seems that a historically low amount of individuals are falling for cryptocurrency scams. One explanation for this might be because as asset values continue to decline, prospective victims find cryptocurrency scams, which often offer themselves as chances for passive crypto investing opportunities with high promised returns, less appealing. 

Less inexperienced crypto users

Chainalysis suggests that there may be fewer new, inexperienced users in the market now that prices are decreasing, compared to when prices were rising and they were attracted in by hype and quick profits, and in turn  more likely to fall for scams  

Finally, given that the total revenue generated by scams in a year is so frequently driven by one or two enormous scams, it is conceivable that an outlier may emerge or be identified before the end of the year and cause the trend of declining revenue generated by scams the crypto space is currently seeing to be reversed.