In 2024, ransomware operators’ revenue reached $813 million, down 35% from the previous year’s figure of $1.25 billion, according to a report from Chainalysis.

The volume of stolen funds in the first half of the year grew by 2.4% compared to 2023, including $75 million paid to the Dark Angels group. However, a sharp decline in ransomware payments during the second half of the year led to a decrease in the total amount.

Chainalysis analysts believe that hackers are finding it harder to launder illicit profits due to sanctions against the Russian exchange Cryptex and the German authorities’ seizure of servers from 47 Russian-language crypto exchanges without KYC.

Another positive trend, according to experts, is the growing gap between the ransom demands and the amounts actually sent by victims.

“Victims who paid ransom typically sent between $150,000 and $250,000, regardless of the original demands,” the report states.

Earlier, Chainalysis analysts reported that in 2024, the total volume of illegal cryptocurrency transactions amounted to $40.9 billion, with 63% of those transactions conducted using stablecoins.