A report from Bitrace shows $649 billion in stablecoin transfers tied to high-risk addresses in 2024, reflecting a slight decrease in percentage terms from the previous year. Tron-based USDt dominates these transactions, while online gambling platforms processed $217.8 billion in stablecoins, a notable increase from 2023.
In a striking report from cryptocurrency compliance firm Bitrace, it was revealed that a staggering $649 billion in stablecoin transactions had links to high-risk addresses in 2024. This figure, released on April 29, indicates that significant amounts of stablecoins were moved through wallets identified as associated with illicit activity, which typically includes illegal entities that receive, transfer, or store these digital assets.
Bitrace employs a scoring system for crypto wallet addresses, categorising them based on their potential involvement in unlawful activities. As the risk rating rises, the assumption of foul play increases, making it less likely for compliant crypto businesses to engage with those assets. Notably, the reported $649 billion constituted around 5.14% of total stablecoin transaction volume in 2024. This marks a slight decrease from 5.94% the previous year, yet it’s starkly higher than the 2.8% recorded in 2022 and 1.63% in 2021.
Digging deeper, the analysis shows that Tron-based USDt (USDT) was the standout player for high-risk transactions, dominating with over 70% of the volume on that network. Other high-risk stablecoin activities were mainly attributed to Ethereum-based USDt and a minor fraction from USDC. The bigger market cap and wider acceptance of USDT likely contribute to its prominence in these transactions. According to CoinMarketCap, USDT’s market capitalisation tops $148 billion, as compared to USDC’s $62 billion.
The reasons behind Tron’s dominance are a bit murkier. Though Ethereum is widely regarded as the more favoured option among stablecoin users, with nearly $124.3 billion in circulation compared to Tron’s $71 billion, where it stands is interesting. In raw numbers of USDT, Tron does have a slight edge over Ethereum, with 47.4% of the USDT supply as opposed to Ethereum’s 45.44%.
In tandem with overall stablecoin trends, online gambling platforms are seeing a significant rise. Bitrace’s findings indicate that in 2024, these platforms processed a whopping $217.8 billion in stablecoin transactions — a 17.5% jump from the preceding year. Once again, USDT took the lead in this sector, though USDC’s share in the market appears to be on the uptrend, accounting for 13.36% of transactions.
These developments come alongside recent reports suggesting that crypto casinos generated over $81 billion in revenue during the same year. This growth is remarkable, especially as regulatory efforts are intensifying in several key jurisdictions attempting to clamp down on access to these platforms.
