Cryptocurrencies stolen from exchanges and scammed from investors surged more than 400 percent in 2018 to around $1.7 billion, according to a report from U.S.-based cyber security firm CipherTrace released on Tuesday.

Bad actors stole $1.7 billion worth of cryptocurrencies from investors last year, according to a new report from CipherTrace Cryptocurrency Intelligence published Tuesday. Of that total, roughly $1 billion was taken from exchanges.

CipherTrace is out with a report on cryptocurrency scams and fraud. It is widely known that crypto suffers from rampant acts of theft and cons as these digital assets have become the targets of global criminals seeking an easy payday or simply to launder illicit funds.

Crypto-related crime spiked massively last year, according to the latest report from AML firm CipherTrace. Digital crooks made off with some $1.7 billion worth of crypto assets in 2018.

Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Investigations

In the first nine months of 2018, theft from exchanges of cryptocurrencies through sophisticated hacking techniques has hit nearly $927 million, showing an increase of about 250 per cent compared to the level seen in 2017.

Theft of cryptocurrencies through hacking of exchanges and trading platforms soared to $927 million in the first nine months of the year, up nearly 250 percent from the level seen in 2017.

New data shows criminals have laundered $2.5 billion worth dirty Bitcoin through cryptocurrency exchanges, and almost all of it ends up in countries with lax Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) regulations.

Last year, crypto exchanges recorded around $266 million in losses from security breaches and heists. The first half of 2018 recorded triple the amount stolen from crypto exchanges in 2017, triggering investors in the cryptocurrency space to develop concerns regarding the standard of security measures implemented by crypto trading platforms.

Using advanced analytic techniques and multiple data sources, CipherTrace aims to help financial services organizations detect and limit crypto-currency money laundering.

Cryptocurrency money laundering is increasing dramatically, being already three times greater than in 2017. And we’re only half way through the year, observes Dave Jevans, Founder and CEO of CipherTrace, and chairman of the Anti-Phishing Working Group

Bitcoin supporters argue cryptocurrency is not anonymous, that their transactions can be connected to the addresses at which they receive bitcoins. If those addresses are ever tied to their personal identity, their cryptocurrency movements can be fully visible.

The first half of 2018 saw more cryptocurrency theft than all of 2017 combined, driving a rise in digital money laundering as criminals elude authorities.

"So what we’re going to see is that not only the European market goes dark for all of us; so all the bad guys will flow to Europe because you can actually access the world from Europe and there’s no way you can get the data anymore.”

“GDPR will negatively impact the overall security of the internet and will also inadvertently aid cybercriminals. By restricting access to critical information, the new law will significantly hinder investigations into cybercrime, cryptocurrency theft, phishing, ransomware, malware, fraud and crypto-jacking.”

Washington Post “GDPR will negatively impact the overall security of the internet and will also inadvertently aid cybercriminals. By restricting access to critical information, the new law will significantly hinder investigations into cybercrime, cryptocurrency theft, phishing, ransomware, malware, fraud and crypto-jacking.”

Cryptocurrency has skyrocketed in value over the past year, so it shouldn't be too surprising that thieves want a piece of the pie.

Since the beginning of 2017, as bitcoin’s popularity and the emergence of more than 1,500 digital tokens have put the spotlight on the unregulated sector, according to APWG estimates