key points
- Malicious actors launching malware attacks found using Dogecoin
- DOGE was accepted as payment in the darknet’s drug market
- DOGE 3.64% at $0.06553 . was doing business on
According to a new report, Dogecoin, the world’s first meme coin and Elon Musk’s favorite crypto, is not only one of the favorite altcoins of investors, but also of criminals. It noted that DOGE is the cryptocurrency preferred by bad actors over Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Elliptic Connect, a blockchain analytics firm focused on financial crime prevention in the cryptocurrency world, released an investigation revealing that Dogecoin is “linked to illicit”. The investigation found that “the vast majority of this activity involved fraud, scams and Ponzi schemes,” with Meme Coin also being used in serious crimes such as financing of terrorism and selling “child sexual abuse material (CSAM)”.
The team also included a pie chart in the report to clearly show the breakdown of DOGE-based and related illegal activities. Terrorism, piracy, scams and Ponzi schemes made up the largest portion of the charts while malware took second place. Other illegal activities shown in the chart include organized crime, sellers of child sexual abuse material, and far-right extremism.
A representation of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin is seen in this illustration taken on November 29, 2021. Photo: Reuters / DADO RUVIC
The report states that in July 2021, the National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing of Israel identified 84 crypto addresses “believed to be controlled by Hamas, or otherwise used in terrorism-related activity.” These said addresses include DOGE addresses, which apparently received $40,235.
Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, nationalist and extremist organization that rules the Gaza Strip.
Elliptic also discovered “several darknet markets – including those selling drugs and stolen data – that accept Dogecoin as a method of payment,” including the infamous Archetype – one of the drug markets on the darknet. . Analysts have also found several malware campaigns, including the theft and use of DOGE addresses.
“To date, the Doge address used by Kliptomanager has received approximately $29,000, demonstrating the potential profitability of these campaigns – especially when the wide range of assets is considered,” the report said. ” Kliptomer is a malware that hijacks a computer to mine cryptocurrency.
Dogecoin has come a long way since its release in December 2013 and is now recognized as a major crypto asset. Based on the latest data from CoinMarketCap, as of 11:13 PM ET on Thursday, DOGE was trading 3.64% higher at $0.06553 with 24-hour volume at $461,708,467.
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