Bad press for Bitcoin – Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies are frequently singled out for allowing criminal financing. Although cases exist, these transactions remain anecdotal.
Paying a hitman in bitcoin? It is now possible
On January 14, the doctor Ronald Craig Ilg, 56, was sentenced by the American courts. According to documents released by the Department of Justice, Ilg allegedly contracted the services of several contract killers that he would have paid in Bitcoin.
In 2021, our man hired a first hitman to injure a former colleague. He had agreed with the latter to break his hand in exchange for $2,000 in BTC.
Subsequently, he repeated the experience in his couple at the end of life. Indeed, he has hired a team to kidnap his wife and inject her with heroin so that she abandons the divorce proceedings. This time, the criminals had been paid $60,000 in BTC. Moreover, Ilg had promised a bonus once the mission was accomplished.
The investigation into these cases began when the FBI got hold of several posts of Ilg on the dark web.
“During a voluntary interview with the FBI, Ilg falsely claimed that he had paid the hitmen to kill him, rather than his victims. »
FBI Statement
He then attempted to obstruct justice. Specifically, he tried to influence a key witness, as the court report explains:
“Ilg sent a letter to a key witness against him, begging him to marry her so he could control his testimony. He even offered to pay school fees for the witness’s child. »
Eventually, Ronald Craig Ilg was sentenced to 8 years in prison closed, $25,000 in damages and $100,000 fine.
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Less significant crypto-related illicit activity
In the collective unconscious of a good part of the population, Bitcoin is synonymous with crime. Indeed, in the early days of the network, it was often linked to the dark web and illegal activities.
Nevertheless, the share of illicit activities in cryptocurrencies is far from substantial. Indeed, according to the latest report of chain analysisonly 0.24% of cryptocurrency transactions were linked to illicit activities in 2022.
“Overall, illicit activity in cryptocurrencies represents only a small fraction of the overall volume, less than 1%. It’s also worth keeping in mind that despite this year’s jump, the share of crime in overall cryptocurrency activity is still on a downward trend. »
Another type of illicit activity frequently linked to cryptocurrencies is in decline. In effect, ransomware saw revenue plunge 40% in 2022. According to Chainalysis, this drop is notably caused by the lack of payment from the victims.
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