Report: Crypto privacy tools protect users and firms

ChangeNOW and CoinRabbit released a report titled “Financial Privacy in the Digital Age” arguing crypto privacy tools help civilians under sanctions, preserve corporate confidentiality and lower the risk of targeted physical attacks. The report also states that enforcement is strongest where crypto converts to fiat.

The paper cites the Iran case after SWIFT exclusions, noting a U.S. enforcement action called Operation Economic Fury that seized about $1 billion in Iranian crypto, including a $344 million USDT freeze on the Tron network. The authors write that ordinary residents faced limited access to remittances and foreign payments while political and commercial elites used alternate channels.

For companies using public blockchains for treasury and payments, the report says wallet addresses can reveal vendor lists, payroll timings, payment frequencies and supply-chain links. Statista data cited in the report shows 36% of board members worry about internal data leaks, and the average data breach cost is listed at $4.44 million.

On personal safety, the report refers to CertiK data that verified 52 “wrench attacks” in the first half of 2026, up from 39 a year earlier. Recorded financial exposure in those cases rose to $124.1 million from $10.5 million in H1 2025. The report notes France accounted for 33 verified cases after breaches of public agency data. CoinRabbit’s internal research finds roughly half of surveyed high-net-worth holders faced targeted social engineering attempts within three years, and about 30% use data-broker removal services to disconnect identities from on-chain activity.

The authors address criminal use of crypto and cite an estimate from TRM Labs that illicit crypto inflows reached $158 billion in 2025, a 145% increase, with Chinese-language escrow and laundering networks accounting for more than $100 billion. The report also cites losses tied to pig-butchering scams of $75 billion from 2020 to 2024 and says 84% of verified fraud and scam inflows move over stablecoin rails.

The paper argues that the most effective enforcement chokepoints are at fiat on- and off-ramps. It says attribution and interdiction combine on-chain analysis with off-chain records such as know-your-customer data, exchange cooperation and intervention by stablecoin issuers. Albert Quehenberger of AQ Forensics observed, “Privacy may increase the complexity of an investigation but rarely determines whether a criminal can ultimately be identified.”

ChangeNOW and CoinRabbit describe privacy-focused designs in the report as examples. The paper highlights ChangeNOW’s private transfer routing and CoinRabbit’s custodial options as architectures intended to limit data exposure while allowing lawful access when required. Pauline Shangett, chief strategy officer at ChangeNOW, wrote that the privacy debate assumes users must prove they have nothing to hide and called for access that is “justified, targeted, and lawful, not universal by default.” Walter Barrett of CoinRabbit emphasized that public ledger transparency can expose an individual’s holdings in real time.

The report recommends that regulators and industry concentrate enforcement resources on fiat corridors and require targeted, lawful access to data rather than blanket transparency.