Attackers stole $4.3 billion in cryptocurrencies since early 2019

CipherTrace analysts have studied the types of crimes involving cryptocurrencies such as theft and fraud. In the first quarter of the year, hackers kidnapped more than $124 million and $480 million from the stock exchanges.

The biggest incident was the exit scams of the PlusToken fraud scheme, the investors of which allegedly lost $2.9 billion.

Bitcoin was the most common cryptocurrency among cybercriminals. It was used to sell drugs, weapons and banking information. Also among the visitors of illegal trading floors were Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero, Bitcoin Cash and Dogecoin.

"The results show that privacy-oriented coins are hardly used in illegal markets (e.g., only 4% of cases used Monero). Bitcoin, on the other hand, remains a coin of the shadow world. Its use was noted in 76% of cases," the publication says.

If we talk about malware, including ransomware, the share of Bitcoin will be even higher - 98%.

Recently it was reported that hackers from North Korea may be responsible for stealing $2 billion from virtual bank vaults and cryptocurrency exchanges.