Dogecoin is gaining popularity for illegal activities, says Elliptic report

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The popular meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE) has been increasingly connected to various illicit activities, such as terrorist financing, Ponzi schemes, and child sexual abuse, according to a new Elliptic report.

The blockchain analytics company revealed in its report that the meme coin popularized by Elon Musk had become a popular choice for bad actors to facilitate transactions in the millions.

While the vast majority of this activity consists of fraud, scams, and Ponzi schemes, it also includes the most serious types of crime, including terrorist financing and vendors of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

In July 2021, Israel’s National Counter Terrorist Financing Office issued a seizure order against 84 crypto addresses believed to be associated with the Hamas group. One of those wallets contained $40,235 worth of Dogecoin.

Additionally, the analytics firm also found that a small but growing number of CSAM providers on and off the darknet now receive Bitcoin. Elliptics only identified $3,000 worth of Dogecoin, which is a small amount.

But he warned that this could represent a growing “appetite” for criminal actors to adopt a wide range of crypto assets to avoid being noticed.

Darknets that accept Dogecoin

Various darknet marketplaces and malware campaigns also accept Dogecoin. Elliptics identified darknet services like Just-Kill that still accept Dogecoin while others no longer accept it.

In addition to terrorists, far-right extremist groups also appear to have taken a liking to cryptocurrencies, including Dogecoin. These groups, far-right blog sites, news, and video-sharing platforms use Dogecoin to raise funds when they can’t use traditional methods.

Infowars is one of those websites. The far-right news website fighting globalism has raised over $1,700 worth of Dogecoin.

This discovery is similar to revelations by the Financial Action Task Force last year about far-right groups using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and privacy coins.

However, Ponzi schemes, theft and fraud seem to be the biggest illicit use of Dogecoin. Elliptics claims to have identified more than 50 cases in which criminals cashed out millions of dollars in Dogecoin.

Popular cases include the alleged theft of $119 million worth of Dogecoin associated with a Turkish Ponzi scheme last year. In 2020, the Chinese government also seized over $20 million from DOGE in the $6 billion PlusToken Ponzi scheme.