Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has released a damning report on crypto crime in 2025, revealing a staggering 1,400% year-over-year surge in impersonation scams. These scams, where fraudsters pose as trusted entities like exchanges or government services, have become a dominant threat, with the average amount stolen per incident also increasing by over 600%.
The report estimates that cryptocurrency scams received at least $14 billion on-chain in 2025, a sharp rise from the revised $12 billion figure for 2024. Chainalysis projects the final toll for the year could exceed $17 billion as more illicit addresses are identified. The average value of scam payments climbed from $782 in 2024 to $2,764 in 2025, a jump of approximately 253%.
Artificial intelligence is a key driver behind this "industrialization of fraud." Chainalysis found that scam operations linked to AI service providers were 4.5 times more profitable on average, generating about $3.2 million per operation compared to $719,000 for non-AI scams. AI-linked scams also showed higher daily revenue and transaction volume, indicating greater efficiency and the ability to manage more victims simultaneously.
One prominent case involved scammers masquerading as crypto exchange Coinbase, stealing nearly $16 million from victims. The Brooklyn District Attorney's office indicted a man in December 2025 in connection with the fraud; he has pleaded not guilty.
Chainalysis warned that traditional scam categorizations are blurring, as fraudsters combine impersonation, social engineering, and technical scams into single operations. The firm urged authorities to focus on prevention in 2026 through enhanced detection tools, real-time fraud systems, and greater cross-border law enforcement coordination, stating that "there are no silver bullets" to tackling this scale of criminal activity.
