Popular meme-coin Dogecoin is used in the “most serious” crimes

Dogecoin (DOGE)according to a recent report by analytics firm Elliptic, the world’s largest meme-coin in terms of market capitalization, is used by actors in “the most serious types of crime.”

As dogecoin gained popularity as a means of payment for legitimate goods, the report said, it has also attracted the attention of attackers.

Elliptical claims it has uncovered “millions of dollars of Dogecoin transactions associated with illegal activity” which mainly includes scams, scams and Ponzi schemes, as well as more serious crimes such as financing terrorism and selling child sexual abuse material (CSAM) .

The firm pointed to the use of dogecoin for terrorist financing, citing a 2021 ruling by Israel’s National Bureau for Combating Terrorist Financing regarding 84 crypto addresses believed to be linked to Hamas militants that contained $40,235 in DOGE.

“Despite a small amount compared to Bitcoin and Tether, this example demonstrates the awareness and growing adoption of a wide range of crypto assets by groups such as Hamas,” the report says.

The report also shows that a “small and growing number” of CSAM providers operating both on the dark web and the clearnet are accepting payments in dogecoin.

However, the DOGE usage rate in the CSAM community “is currently very low, with less than $3,000 identified worldwide to date,” the report says.

Dogecoin is also being used by illicit entities in darknet markets. For example, Just-Kill, which describes itself as a “call and email service”, allows users to both deposit funds and donate using dogecoin.

According to Elliptic, the popular meme coin has also been used to raise funds for far-right extremist groups.

Created in 2013 as a joke, Dogecoin has become one of the largest crypto assets in the world, thanks in large part to the approval and support of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

At 8:52 UTC on Thursday morning, DOGE is the 11th coin by market capitalization with $8.5 billion. It is up 3.2% on the day and 0.5% on the week and is currently trading at $0.063.