As the old adage goes, “Where money flows, fraud follows.” This has certainly been true in the cryptocurrency world.

According to CoinMarketCap.com, the value of all existing cryptocurrency is over a trillion dollars as of September 15, 2023, with around $508 billion of that being attributed to Bitcoin. The size of the Bitcoin blockchain is now over 70 percent higher than it was just three years ago.

The prevalence of cryptocurrency fraud is also growing at a remarkable pace. Indeed, according to the US Department of Justice, frauds involving cryptocurrency increased by over 183% year-over-year in 2022.

The growth of so-called “crypto fraud” has taken on heightened concerns, as even more capital is projected to flow into the cryptocurrency markets. In fact, according to a 2022 McKinsey report, global cryptocurrency payments are expected to exceed $3 trillion within the next three years.

The US government has responded by dedicating investigative and prosecutorial resources at the Justice Department, the SEC, and the CFTC. However, the reality is that most crypto fraud schemes are undetectable from the outside.

The SEC and CFTC Whistleblower Programs incentivize whistleblowers to step forward and expose fraud schemes targeting the cryptocurrency markets.

Jeb White is the President & CEO at The Anti-Fraud Coalition