A German financial watchdog has reportedly recorded a record number of crypto-related suspicious activity reports.<\/p>\n
Notifications from banks and financial services companies related to cryptocurrency rose 8.2% to 8,711, Bloomberg News\u00a0reported<\/a> Tuesday (June 10), citing information from Germany\u2019s\u00a0Financial Intelligence Unit<\/a>\u00a0(FIU).<\/p>\n The increase came even as the overall number of suspicious activity reports fell in the wake of guidance to the industry about sticking to relevant reports.<\/p>\n Most reports related to Bitcoin, followed by Ether, XRP, Tether and Litecoin, the report said. The FIU says these tokens are in many cases tied to transactions on trading platforms, mixing services or gambling.<\/p>\n The FIU\u2019s findings follow a report from earlier this year by the FBI showing a significant rise in cryptocurrency fraud during 2024. That report showed at least $9.3 billion in losses reported during the year, a\u00a066% increase<\/a>\u00a0from 2023\u2019s numbers. Those losses were related to investment scams, extortion, sextortion and fraudulent activity involving cryptocurrency ATMs and kiosks.<\/p>\n Speaking with reporters, Christopher Delzotto, section chief of the financial crime section for the FBI, said that between January 2024 and April of this year, the agency notified more than 5,400 people who had been targeted by cryptocurrency-related fraud \u2014 many of whom had no idea they had been targeted.<\/p>\n In other digital asset news, PYMNTS wrote recently about stablecoin issuer\u00a0Circle\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0initial public offering (IPO), arguing that the company\u2019s\u00a0Wall Street debut<\/a>\u00a0marks a larger cultural and economic shift beyond its financial success.<\/p>\n \u201cFor years, cryptocurrencies have lived at the margins of institutional finance, oscillating between hype cycles and\u00a0regulatory crackdowns<\/a>,\u201d that report said.<\/p>\n By going public, Circle has opened a new chapter. Big banks underwrote its IPO, and retail investors showed hunger for shares, demonstrating a new eagerness for digital assets in the traditional finance world.<\/p>\n \u201cThe implications of Circle\u2019s IPO are far-reaching,\u201d PYMNTS added.<\/p>\n