$649 Billion in Stablecoins Linked to High-Risk Addresses
Cryptocurrency compliance solutions provider Bitrace revealed that $649 billion in stablecoins passed through addresses identified as high-risk in 2024. The figure accounted for approximately 5.14% of total stablecoin transactions in the year. While the proportion declined from 5.94% in 2023, it remained much larger than in past years, like 2.8% in 2022 and 1.63% in 2021, showing a persistent pattern of illicit activity in the digital asset space.
Bitrace defines high-risk addresses as those used by bad actors to receive, send, or store stablecoins. Compliance firms analyze blockchain activity to offer risk scores for wallet addresses, which allow legitimate businesses to identify and avoid potentially risky transactions. The higher the risk score, the higher the likelihood that the address is linked to illicit activity such as money laundering, scams, or illegal gambling.
The persistent scale of high-risk transactions suggests that despite increasing regulatory pressure and improved compliance tools, a significant percentage of stablecoin flows remain vulnerable to exploitation.
Tron-Based USDT Dominates High-Risk Transfers
Tron’s version of Tether (USDT) dominates high-risk stablecoin traffic, with analytics from Bitrace indicating that over 70% of suspicious volume occurred on the Tron chain. Although Ethereum has stayed at the top of the board as the leading blockchain for overall stablecoin activity — with approximately $124.3 billion in circulation compared to Tron’s $71 billion — Tron hosts a larger share of USDT transactions.
Today, Tron houses some 47.4% of USDT’s supply, narrowly leading Ethereum’s 45.44%. USDT’s dominance in illicit transactions is a result of its widespread usage and liquidity. As the largest stablecoin by market capitalization — over $148 billion at the time of writing — USDT is more convenient for users on more platforms, including those that operate outside legal frameworks, to use.
Crypto Gambling Sees a Surge
In addition to illicit financial flows, crypto gambling is on the rise as well. Bitrace reported that in 2024, gambling websites processed $217.8 billion worth of stablecoin transactions, a 17.5% increase from 2023. As in the past, USDT dominated as the top stablecoin, but USDC narrowed the gap with a 13.36% market share in gambling-related inflows.
Crypto casinos have generated over $81 billion in revenue in 2024, it is reported. Despite the fact that regulators in key jurisdictions have shut off access to the sites, decentralized options continue to exist, further thwarting efforts at stifling high-risk stablecoin utilization.
