NYT stablecoin crime report faces industry backlash: ‘Total hit piece’

Jake Chervinsky, CLO at crypto VC Variant Fund, has criticized a recent New York Times (NYT) report on stablecoins as a ‘hit piece.’ 

According to the article, stablecoins have become the most preferred option for money launderers and criminals evading U.S. sanctions.

Over $25 billion of illicit funds have been moved via stablecoins in 2024 alone, the report stated, citing Chainalysis data. 

With Russian key players and terrorists turning to crypto, the NYT concluded, 

“The rise of these dollar-linked tokens threatens to undermine one of America’s most potent foreign policy tools: cutting adversaries off from the dollar and the global banking system.”

For Chervinsky, however, the NYT was ‘attacking’ stablecoins because it’s the ‘most obvious way’ crypto improves finance. 

Source: X

Tether-led team pushes for financial integrity

On the stablecoin preference for on-chain crime players, the NYT report was right. In 2020, BTC accounted dominated by over 75% of illicit on-chain flows due to its deep liquidity. 

However, stablecoins accounted for 63% of illicit volumes as of 2024, according to Chainalysis. 

Source: Chainalysis

However, the NYT report overstated the role of stablecoins in global illicit flows.

Chainalysis data showed crypto flows accounted for only 0.14% of total global illicit activity and have remained below 1% for the past five years. 

Besides, industry players, led by Tether, the top stablecoin issuer, have intensified efforts to monitor and sanction illicit funds.

In October 2025, Tether-led T3 Financial Crime Unit froze over $300 million in crime-related funds and has partnered with several investigation authorities globally. In fact, Tether has blocked over $3 billion of illicit funds, underscoring that sanctions are still doable on-chain. 

The only caveat is that cryptocurrency moves quickly, and authorities must quickly detect and block illicit funds before they are swapped into other assets or cashed out. 

Crypto hacks trend

That said, the total value of crypto hacks and stolen assets in 2025 has reached $3.25 billion, excluding the December. 

Source: Peckshield/AMBCrypto

The Bybit exchange hack in February remains the largest theft of funds so far this year. Notably, November hacks increased tenfold to $194 million compared to October, following the Balancer breach. 

On a yearly basis, the stolen value increased by 8.2% to $3.25 billion in 2025, up from $3.00 billion recorded in 2024. It was also 24% higher than the $2.6 billion stolen in 2023. 

Source: Peckshield/AMBcrypto 

Final Thoughts

• Per The New York Times, stablecoins have become the preferred alternative for criminals seeking to move illicit funds. 
• Although on-chain crime has increased over the past three years, crypto accounts for less than 1% of global illicit flows.