As the United States and various nations contemplate the establishment of national cryptocurrency reserves, fresh research from Chainalysis indicates that governments might already have access to tens of billions in recoverable onchain assets—an advancement that could intersect with reserve discussions.
In a report released on Thursday, Chainalysis projected that crypto balances tied to illicit activities surpass $75 billion. This total encompasses approximately $15 billion directly held by illicit entities and over $60 billion in wallets connected to those entities.
The blockchain analytics firm noted that operators and vendors of darknet markets control more than $40 billion in cryptocurrency assets.
About 75% of the entire illicit value is stored in Bitcoin (BTC), although stablecoins are increasingly prevalent in such activities.
Chainalysis connected its findings to the US Trump administration’s initiation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile, aiming to enhance federal crypto holdings through budget-neutral strategies, potentially including asset forfeitures.
“[T]he cryptocurrency ecosystem offers law enforcement an unprecedented opportunity: billions of dollars in illicit proceeds are sitting on public blockchains and are theoretically seizable if authorities can coordinate action,” the report highlighted.
Chainalysis co-founder and CEO Jonathan Levin informed Bloomberg that the figures elevate “asset forfeiture potential to a completely different level,” stating, “It shifts how countries view that.”
In another development, Canadian authorities recently seized approximately $40 million in digital assets from TradeOgre, a cryptocurrency exchange claimed to be operating without registration and facilitating money laundering, which drew considerable backlash from the crypto community, who contended the action exceeded regulatory limits.
Related: Bybit hacker launders 100% of stolen $1.4B crypto in 10 days
Blockchain transparency alters perception of crypto crime
While the occurrence of crypto crime has risen in recent years, including numerous high-profile breaches affecting major exchanges and service providers, its overall volume remains relatively small.
According to Chainalysis’s 2025 Crypto Crime Report, illicit transactions constituted merely 0.14% of all blockchain activity in 2024, continuing a downward trend from prior years.
In contrast, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that 2%-5% of global GDP is laundered via conventional financial systems.
Analysts suggest that the spotlight on crypto crime is disproportionately highlighted due to the transparent nature of blockchain networks, where all transactions are publicly trackable. This transparency facilitates the detection of illicit activities, rendering them more reported than crimes involving cash or traditional banking systems.
As a newer technology, the crypto ecosystem has also been subject to intense regulatory and enforcement scrutiny, which amplifies perceptions of extensive wrongdoing.
Related: Blockchain security must localize to halt Asia’s crypto crime wave
