Crypto scams are becoming harder to track as criminals move deeper into decentralized finance (DeFi) to launder stolen funds. Blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis estimates more than $17 billion was stolen through crypto fraud in 2025, with impersonation scams driving much of the growth.
In a blog post, the New York-headquartered firm revealed that impersonation scams, which involve fraudsters posing as trusted entities, grew more than 1,400% year over year (YoY). But unlike earlier scam waves, these operations are now relying less on centralized exchanges and more on DeFi infrastructure to move funds.
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