TRM Labs conducted a comprehensive survey titled "Tackling Cryptocurrency Crime," involving over 300 law enforcement professionals from the U.S. and other countries. The survey revealed a striking insight: while 90% of the participants reported that their organizations offered some form of cryptocurrency training, an overwhelming 99% expressed the need for more extensive training.
The demographic of respondents was predominantly U.S. law enforcement personnel, with 93% coming from federal agencies and the remainder from state, county, and local agencies. According to the survey, 40% of their investigations currently involve cryptocurrencies, a figure they anticipate will increase to 51% by 2027. Despite this expected rise, a majority of these law enforcement professionals feel inadequately prepared to tackle future cryptocurrency-related investigations.
The survey, carried out by an external polling firm from October 18 to November 3, 2023, included respondents who had been with their current law enforcement agency for at least a year and had been involved in at least one crypto-related criminal investigation in the past year. It was found that while over 50% of federal agencies use blockchain analytics tools, only 11% of state agencies do the same. About 61% of those surveyed indicated a lack of advanced technology to effectively combat cryptocurrency criminal threats.
In terms of the scale of cryptocurrency crime, TRM Labs noted that roughly $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency was stolen via hacks from January to November 2023, a significant decrease from the previous year. Notable incidents included the theft of approximately $87 million in crypto assets from the HTX exchange's bridge to Ethereum and unauthorized withdrawals from the Poloniex exchange. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has highlighted four major cryptocurrency-related cases in its top 10 cases of 2023.
The survey concluded that around 80% of participants view investment in blockchain analytics as a critical or high priority. However, the TRM Labs report points out that U.S. law enforcement agencies are still far from fully implementing their plans to educate employees about cryptocurrency. The report identifies a lack of investigators, expertise, and funding as the primary hurdles in effectively combating cryptocurrency crime for law enforcement agencies.
