The year 2024 saw a significant 35% decline in ransomware payments, falling to $813 million from the staggering $1.25 billion that cybercriminals had extorted in 2023. This data was revealed in a report by Chainalysis, a leading blockchain analytics firm.
Chainalysis’ 2025 crypto crime report shed light on the ebbs and flows of the year. In the first half of 2024, it seemed like the cybercriminals were on track for another year of record earnings, with a 2.4% increase in the value stolen compared to 2023, including a massive $75 million ransom paid by an undisclosed victim to the Dark Angels group. However, the second half of 2024 witnessed a drastic reduction in ransomware payments, causing the total value extorted for the year to decrease.
Centralized exchanges were still the preferred channel for the criminals to convert their ill-gotten crypto into fiat. However, sanctions against Cryptex, a Russian-based exchange, and the seizure of 47 non-KYC Russian language crypto exchanges by the German Federal Criminal Police in the previous year, hampered the criminals’ ability to launder their illegal proceeds, according to Chainalysis.
“There’s an increasing reluctance among ransomware operators, majorly driven by financial motives, to cash out. This could be indicative of their fear of getting traced, identified, and prosecuted by law enforcement agencies, thanks to crypto investigation tools,” stated Jacqueline Burns Koven, Chainalysis Head of Cyber Threat Intelligence.
Chainalysis also highlighted a growing disparity between the ransoms demanded by attackers and the amounts actually transferred by victims on the blockchain. Despite a rise in the number of ransomware incidents, the payout gap swelled to 53% in the latter half of 2024, suggesting that more victims were standing their ground and refusing to pay the ransom, Chainalysis reported. The typical payment from victims who did give in to the hackers’ demands ranged between $150,000 and $250,000, regardless of the original ransom amount.
“The cybersecurity landscape seemed to be spiralling towards a ransomware apocalypse. This considerable drop, even lower than the figures of 2020 and 2021, is a testimony to the effectiveness of law enforcement actions, enhanced international cooperation, and the escalating refusal of victims to succumb to the attackers’ demands,” Koven commented.
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