Crypto exchanges face $188 billion in high-risk exposure

The report, which analyzed $36.28 trillion in deposits and withdrawals, tracks funds linked to high-risk sources through up to five blockchain transfers. While sanctions now represent the largest category of exposure—accounting for 62.2% of risky inflows in 2025—the nature of these transactions has shifted significantly. In 2021, fraud and hacks dominated the landscape, but as of 2025, USDT on Tron has become the preferred vehicle for flagged transfers, comprising over 80% of risky outflows.

Concentration remains a defining feature of the data, with one unnamed exchange alone accounting for $70.84 billion in combined exposure. Despite the massive scale of these figures, analysts emphasize that proximity to high-risk entities does not serve as definitive proof of illicit intent by the exchanges or their users. The report also highlights that larger, less frequent transactions drive much of the flagged value; just 5,878 deposits exceeding $1 million made up more than 37% of the total risky volume.

Sanctions enforcement, such as the March 2025 disruption of the Garantex infrastructure, has shown tangible impact, with daily flagged inflows associated with the entity dropping by 98.9%. However, the report notes that as exchanges implement stricter monitoring—such as the 15-day review processes recently highlighted by OKX—illicit actors continue to adapt, with the average distance between exchanges and flagged entities increasing from 1.51 transfers in 2021 to 2.73 in 2025.