Categories: MoneroNews

Only 4.3% of All Monero (XMR) was Mined by Malware Bots According to Study

Only 4.32% of all Monero (XMR) have been mined by Malware botnets and Cyber Criminal Operations.

According to a research paper named “A First Look at the Crypto-Mining Malware Ecosystem: A Decade of Unrestricted Wealth” published by academics in Charles III University of Madrid and King’s College London, only 4.32% of all the Monero (XMR) was mined from Malware activities and cyber crimes.

The researchers looked at a sample set of over 4.4 Million Malware strains (from a span of 12 years 2007-2018) only to find out one Million strains mined Cryptocurrency from infected hosts. The researchers looked at the data from the past payments from the mining pools and used both static and dynamic analysis techniques to extract information.

“We then analyze publicly-available payments sent to the wallets from mining-pools as a reward for mining and estimate profits for the different campaigns.”

The research shows that Monero (XMR) is by far the most popular Cryptocurrency among cybercriminals. The 4.32% figure does not include mined Monero on users browsers using the Javascript code also called as “Cryptojacking”.

The research estimates total revenue of $57 Million out of which $18 Million mined by a single group. The criminals use mining pools anonymously to extract value and withdraw coins, the research shows that the number one choice for these criminals was crypto-pool fr which accounts for $47 Million out of the total $57 Million that was cashed out.

Image Source: arxiv.org

The study also dives deep into two of the most successful Monero campaigns namely Freebuf and USA 138. The Freebuf campaign managed to mine 163k XMR in 4 years using 7 wallets and USA 138 which has managed to mine over 6300 XMR overall.

Image Source: arxiv.org

The research also reveals other types of illegal mining activities like the mining malware to mine Bitcoin (BTC) and web-based Cryptojacking to mine XMR. But they are minuscule compared to web-based Monero mining.

Image Source: arxiv.org

Blockmanity’s Take

Privacy based Cryptocurrencies like Monero have gotten a bad rep from media for its usage by criminals, but the study shows that only a small percentage of Monero is actually being mined by criminals. Even with Cryptocurrencies like Zcash which provides privacy as optionality, less than 15% of transactions are actually private.

The Ethos of privacy Cryptocurrencies is to provide fungibility and basic privacy for individuals which happen to be a human right. But the focus of the discussion always revolves around the minority percentage of users using it for illicit purposes.

Find the Paper Here.

Image Source (Modified): Flickr

Also Read:


Discuss this news on our Telegram Community. Subscribe to us on Google news and do follow us on Twitter @Blockmanity

Did you like the news you just read? Please leave a feedback to help us serve you better

Disclaimer: Blockmanity is a news portal and does not provide any financial advice. Blockmanity's role is to inform the cryptocurrency and blockchain community about what's going on in this space. Please do your own due diligence before making any investment. Blockmanity won't be responsible for any loss of funds.

Shrikar Parashar

Shrikar is a Blockchain evangelist. He is a die-hard fan of security tokens. He follows the market closely but does not trade. He believes in Hodling.

Share
Published by
Shrikar Parashar

Recent Posts

Bullish Signals for Sui Blockchain: Top SUI meme projects of 2024

Macro guru and Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal shone the spotlight on a rising layer-1…

2 months ago

AI Companions: A New Era of Digital Relationships and Virtual Experiences

As the technology landscape transforms at lightning speed, AI Companions has positioned itself as a…

2 months ago

zkCross Network: Simplifying DeFi Complexity and Achieving Fundraising Success

Did you know that 85% of DeFi value is concentrated in six blockchains?  DeFi is…

2 months ago

Don’t Miss Out: Get $CLP Tokens in the Exclusive RWA IDO Now!

CLAPART - a groundbreaking RWA platform has launched its much-anticipated $CLP token IDO on Gempad…

3 months ago

Step into the Future of Web3 at Blockchain Futuristic Conference 2024, August 13-14

Join us at BFC 2024 to explore the future of Web3. Use a special discount…

4 months ago

WebX Asia 2024: Web3 Innovation Ignites in Tokyo

Catch all the updates with Altcoin Observer, official media partner of WebX Asia 2024. Gear…

4 months ago