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Cryptocrime in the Context of Digital Transformation

Evgheni Florea (2026) — The Law, State and Telecommunications Review

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DOI: 10.26512/lstr.v18i2.60028 (opens in a new tab)

Country:   Global
Tags:   Crypto Crime, Cryptocurrency Fraud, Digital Literacy, Financial Loss, Pig Butchering, Regulation, Romance Scams, Transnational Crime
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Synopsis

            
The publication investigates crypto-crime within the broader shift toward digital transformation, aiming to map its quantitative growth, typologies, and drivers. It defines crypto-crime as offenses in which virtual assets are instrumental to the wrongdoing, whether as means, targets, or proceeds, and situates this phenomenon in a cross-border, highly technical criminal landscape. The study adopts a mixed-methods design that combines comparative, criminological, statistical analyses with case studies of notable incidents and platforms. The data sources include documented cases and industry reports from 2015 through 2024, with attention to trends, regulatory developments, and the role of digital literacy. Key findings identify a diverse array of criminal activities—investment fraud, pump-and-dump schemes, extortion via ransomware, money laundering, and romance or social-engineering schemes—sharing features such as high transaction anonymity, transnational reach, and rapid evolution of techniques. The author highlights a stark rise in harm: complaints and losses escalate markedly from the mid-2010s to the mid-2020s, with investment fraud and identity-related schemes accounting for substantial damage. The analysis also emphasizes the notable impact of digital literacy, both as a driver of sophisticated criminal schemes (through technical prowess) and as a vulnerability among users (through social engineering). Regulatory responses, including KYC/AML measures and international frameworks, are discussed as essential but uneven, with calls for harmonization and proactive, adaptive supervision. The discussion acknowledges limitations, including reliance on known cases and public data, and notes the ongoing evolution of crypto-technologies that outpace regulation. It argues for balanced, internationally coordinated regulation paired with broad digital-literacy initiatives to reduce victimization while preserving innovation.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
The paper identifies the absence of a holistic account integrating quantitative parameters with qualitative features of crypto-crime. It notes insufficient attention to interactions between criminal networks and digital infrastructure, adaptation of schemes to legal conditions, and effects of technological literacy on involvement and victimization. It also says correlations between digital literacy, fraud vulnerability, and limited law-enforcement capacity remain inadequately examined.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
The study combines comparative and criminological analysis, descriptive statistical trend analysis, and document-based case studies. It uses 2015–2024 IC3 complaint and loss data, Transaction Monitoring Labs data on illicit transaction shares, and Chainalysis data to compare offense types. Cases include Silk Road, CryptoLocker, Hydra, Monopoly Market, PlusToken, and incidents in Iran, Venezuela, Israel, Moldova, and Romania. Case documents included investigative reports, court documents, and authoritative news sources.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
The author states that the study focuses on major known cases and data, which may omit emerging and concealed forms of crypto-crime. It also acknowledges a substantial dark figure: offenses not reported for various reasons. More broadly, the reliance on secondary reports, selected cases, and descriptive comparisons limits the ability to establish causal effects of digital literacy or regulation on victimization and crime levels.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Conduct in-depth analysis of rapidly changing technological and legal aspects of crypto-crime, and develop more accurate methods for detecting and classifying crypto-assets.

          

              

    
    

        
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