Crypto Payments for Child Porn Grew 32% in 2019: Report

Nearly $1 million in bitcoin and ethereum flowed into child sexual abuse material-linked wallet addresses in 2019.

AccessTimeIconApr 21, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. UTC
Updated Feb 9, 2023 at 1:18 p.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Nearly $1 million in bitcoin and ethereum flowed into child pornography-linked wallet addresses in 2019, continuing a multiyear upward trend that captures the complicated realities of mass crypto adoption.

The statistic, disclosed in a Tuesday blog post by forensics firm Chainalysis, is a tiny sliver of overall crypto usage – even on March 31, 2019, one of the slower trading days of that year, Messari’s estimated $128 million worth of bitcoin in transit dwarfed the nearly $930,000 that Chainalysis traced to addresses flagged by the Internet Watch Foundation across 365 days.

But the troubling total nonetheless documents crypto’s growing popularity as a method of payment for child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Last year, 32 percent more crypto value moved into CSAM than in 2018, which itself was 212 percent higher than 2017’s total. Chainalysis based its totals on the cryptos’ value at time of transaction.

The 2019 figure comes in spite of law enforcement agencies’ global rush to dismantle online CSAM operations, including some of the largest ever uncovered. March 2018’s cross-border takedown of the Welcome to Video CSAM ring shuttered a darknet site that had collected some 420 total bitcoin across its nearly three-year reign.

Traceability

While Welcome to Video’s downfall did not stop 2018 or 2019 from hitting record usage highs, it does illustrate one of the upsides – from a law enforcement standpoint – of people using crypto to pay for CSAM. Bitcoin and ether are inherently traceable, and when users pay for CSAM without attempting to thoroughly obfuscate their tracks, they’re surprisingly easy to find and jail.

Most of the funds come right from exchanges, said Nina Heyden, an economist at Chainalysis. Better yet: from compliant exchanges who collect their users’ identity data as required by law.

“The good thing about that is those exchanges often cooperate with law enforcement when law enforcement requests more information during investigations,” Heyden said.

For example, law enforcement used crypto tracing software to arrest hundreds of Welcome to Video customers whose transaction trails often led to identifiable exchange accounts. Tracing also helped investigators uncover other CSAM rings associated with Welcome to Video via its users’ wallet addresses, as with DarkScandals.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Danny Nelson

Danny is CoinDesk's Managing Editor for Data & Tokens. He owns BTC, ETH and SOL.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.


Read more about