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DOGE Being Increasingly Used in Criminal Activities

DOGE Being Increasingly Used in Criminal Activities
Dogecoin, the adorable meme token of the cryptocurrency world, also has a negative side. Recent Elliptic research demonstrates the use of DOGE by criminals.

Dogecoin (DOGE), Elon Musk‘s preferred cryptocurrency, is being used by criminals to carry out illegal activities, according to a report issued on June 22 by Elliptic Connect, a blockchain analytics service focusing on cryptocurrency-based financial crime prevention.

Elliptic claims that Dogecoin is being used to fund frauds, scams, Ponzi schemes, and other more serious crimes, including terrorism and materials depicting child sexual assault.

Criminals substitute DOGE for Bitcoin and Ethereum

According to Elliptic’s research, thieves, con artists, and operators of Ponzi schemes shifted millions of dollars worth of DOGE. One of these, Plus Token, saw the seizure of $20 million in DOGE, and another was an alleged $119 million DOGE heist in China linked to a Turkish Ponzi scam.

Despite millions of dollars being transferred in Dogecoin, most illegal operations are not as serious as financing terrorism or buying child sex abuse materials, even though these activities exist.

For instance, the valuation moved through DOGE for financing terrorism is slightly over $40,000, while the amount for content relating to child sexual abuse is less than $3,000. This demonstrates that criminals are utilizing Dogecoin to elude law enforcement, who have been concentrating on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monero, which are more widely utilized.

Regarding the darknet, Dogecoin is accepted in several markets, including Archetype, which is geared for drug sales, Just-Kill, which is used as a validator for credit cards that have been stolen, and others that support the shady trade in weapons and other stolen commodities.

Elliptic has noted an upsurge in computer viruses and spyware usage to take customers’ wallets containing Dogecoin. Compared to the millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies that have been stolen using similar tactics, it came to light that the destination address for these transactions had received close to $29,000.

No Longer Known a Mere Meme Coin

Elliptic claims that Dogecoin is no longer seen as a meme currency due to Elon Musk’s social media advocacy. This is interesting given that the electric car tycoon had reiterated his support for DOGE at the World Economic Forum just a few days prior.

However, even if Dogecoin is being used for illegal operations, the claimed numbers are incredibly low compared to the cryptocurrency’s overall value. At the time of writing, the market cap of Dose is $ 8.32 billion as per CoinMarketCap data. DOGE was trading at $ 0.0629 at the time of writing.

DOGE market cap
Dogecoin market capitalization. Source: CoinMarketCap

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