According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, crypto assets are increasingly being used to pay for illegal online streaming content.
Nordic Content Protection (NCP), a non-profit organization against television piracy, worked with Chainalysis to track crypto addresses linked to illegal streaming.
Total inflows to these addresses totaled approximately $24 million between 2019 and 2023, with a dramatic increase beginning in early 2022 and continuing through 2023.
Michael Lund, NCP’s security manager, tells Chainalysis that the tracked addresses do not represent the full extent of the problem.
“Television piracy is a global challenge and a significant threat in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas. We estimate that the number of users of illegal streaming services is in the hundreds of millions, resulting in billions in lost revenue for legitimate services. This actually leads to less tax revenue, fewer jobs and poorer content quality.”
Chainalysis noted earlier this year that the total number of illegal crypto transactions fell in 2023 for the first time since 2020. Last year, illegal addresses received $24.2 billion worth of crypto, compared to $39.6 billion in 2022.
In 2020, illicit wallets received only $9.4 billion worth of crypto. That number rose to $23.2 billion in 2021.
The blockchain analysis company does warn that the actual volume may be higher in 2023, as only known illegal addresses were taken into account.
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Generated image: Midjourney