$5.2 billion worth of Bitcoin transactions linked to ransomware

The United States has linked $5.2 billion worth of Bitcoin transactions to ransomware.
The US Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently released a report linking more than $5.2 billion worth of Bitcoin transactions to the 10 most common ransomware variants.
FinCEN identified 177 virtual currency wallet addresses used for ransomware-related payments in 2,184 suspicious activity reports between January 1, 2011 and June 30, 2021, with $1.56 billion worth of digital currency used for suspicious activity.

Through blockchain analysis of transactions related to 177 virtual currency wallets, FinCEN identified approximately $52 billion worth of Bitcoin transactions that may be related to ransomware payments. Among them, there were 458 Bitcoin transactions worth $590 million in the six months from January to June 2021.
According to data from suspicious activity reports related to ransomware, the average ransomware transaction amount per month is $66.4 million, and the median is $45 million.

Among the reported transactions, Bitcoin was the most common ransomware-related payment method.
In the first six months of 2021, the total amount of suspicious activity reports related to ransomware was $590 million, exceeding the $4.16 billion reported in all of 2020. There were 635 suspicious activity reports related to ransomware in the first six months of 2021, exceeding the 487 reports in all of 2020.
As of June 2021, FinCEN has identified 68 active ransomware variants from suspicious activity reports, as well as the top 10 ransomware with the highest victims and ransom payments. As shown in the figure below:

In addition, governments around the world have announced that they will crack down on cryptocurrency payment methods used by ransomware gangs.