Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said in its 2023 Crypto Crime Report that revenue generated by cryptocurrency scams fell sharply in 2022. According to the report, crypto scam revenue declined 46%, dropping from $10.9 billion in 2021 to just $5.9 billion in 2022. The company said the downturn was driven largely by market conditions, arguing that scams tend to perform worse when cryptocurrency prices are falling.
Bear Market Pressured Scam Activity
Chainalysis explained that scam revenue started 2022 on an upward trajectory, but collapsed in early May, around the same time the broader crypto market entered a deeper bear phase following the Terra Luna implosion. From that point onward, scam proceeds continued to trend lower through the rest of the year.
The firm said the relationship between scam revenue and digital asset prices was particularly striking. In its view, scam revenue tracked bitcoin’s price almost perfectly, typically with a lag of about three weeks between major market moves and corresponding changes in scam performance. That pattern suggests fraud operations may be highly sensitive to investor sentiment, liquidity, and the willingness of victims to deploy capital during market downturns.
Several Scam Categories Remained Active
Chainalysis tracks a broad range of crypto scam types, including giveaway scams, impersonation scams, investment scams, NFT-related scams, and romance scams. Even with the sharp decline in aggregate revenue, the report does not suggest these schemes disappeared. Instead, it indicates that lower asset prices and weaker market enthusiasm likely reduced the overall amount scammers were able to extract.
The company also cautioned that its figures should be viewed as a lower-bound estimate. As investigators identify more wallet addresses tied to fraudulent operations, the estimated amount lost to scammers could rise. In other words, the current totals reflect what has been confirmed so far, not necessarily the final scale of the damage.
Attention on “Pig Butchering” Scams
One area of particular concern is so-called pig butchering fraud, a scam model that has grown rapidly and drawn repeated warnings from law enforcement. These schemes often rely on long-term social engineering, with victims manipulated into believing they are participating in legitimate crypto investments before funds are stolen.
Chainalysis highlighted the growing prominence of pig butchering scams, while broader U.S. enforcement actions underscore the issue’s seriousness. The FBI has warned the public about this type of fraud multiple times, and U.S. authorities in November seized seven domains allegedly used by pig butchering scammers.
Falling Revenue Does Not Mean Falling Risk
Although the headline number points to a substantial drop in scam revenue, the decline should not be mistaken for the disappearance of fraud in crypto markets. The data instead suggests that scams, like many speculative activities, are influenced by broader market cycles. When token prices fall and confidence fades, fraudsters may find it harder to attract new victims or persuade existing ones to commit larger sums.
At the same time, Chainalysis’ findings imply that scam operators remain adaptive. As more fraudulent addresses are uncovered and more cases are linked together, the full picture may become clearer. For users, the report serves as a reminder that high-return promises, impersonation tactics, social manipulation, and NFT-linked hype remain common tools in the scam playbook.
In that sense, 2022 was not a year in which crypto scams vanished. Rather, it was a year in which deteriorating market conditions appear to have reduced scammers’ earnings. The risks to users persisted, even as the total revenue extracted by fraudsters moved lower alongside the wider market.