A new report by blockchain compliance firm Bitrace has revealed that $649 billion in stablecoin transactions passed through high-risk addresses in 2024.

The figure accounts for slightly more than 5% of all stablecoin activity for that year, which, while a slight decline from 2023’s numbers, remains alarmingly higher than levels seen in 2021 and 2022.

The Dominance of USDT and the Rise of USDC in Illicit Activity

At the heart of the Bitrace findings is a detailed breakdown of illegal activity across platforms based on Ethereum and Tron, where stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC are dominant.

According to the report, USDT on TRON maintained its grip as the main vehicle for risky transfers, with Ethereum-based stablecoins also seeing increased activity. Much of the alleged misuse stemmed from the booming online gambling industry, which processed $217.8 billion in stablecoin inflows in 2024. This was a 17.5% increase from the previous year.

Fraud-related inflows also exploded to $52.5 billion, surpassing the cumulative total of previous years, which amounted to $2.13 billion in 2021, $4.28 billion in 2022, and $12.88 billion in 2023.

Meanwhile, money laundering accounted for $86.3 billion, a $31 billion drop from its 2023 level of $118.02 billion, but on par with 2022’s $84.96 billion. The report suggested that the decline was likely due to growing regulatory scrutiny and enforcement actions in the last two years. Centralized exchanges such as OKX also saw a dip in their share of laundering-related inflows, possibly indicating a tightening of their compliance protocols.

Interestingly, despite being issued by a U.S.-regulated company, USDC’s share in these flows also more than doubled, jumping from 5.22% in 2023 to 13.36% in 2024. Still, to their credit, Tether and Circle reportedly froze more than $1.3 billion in illicit stablecoins last year, twice the amount they managed to withhold between 2021 and 2023.

Stablecoins Are Going Mainstream

The release of the Bitrace report comes at a time when stablecoins are making headlines for entirely different reasons. Just recently, Mastercard unveiled its new “end-to-end stablecoin payment system,” promising seamless global transactions through integrations with major platforms like OKX, Crypto.com, and Circle.

The initiative will allow users to spend stablecoins like USDC at over 150 million merchants around the world, highlighting the level at which digital currencies are becoming embedded into both mainstream and crypto-native economies.

Legislative wheels are also turning, with the STABLE Act passed through the U.S. House Financial Services Committee earlier in the month.

The bill is designed to more rigorously regulate stablecoin issuers by requiring banking charters and stricter oversight. If it becomes law, it would establish a long-desired regulatory framework for an industry that has often operated within a legal gray zone.