A1176
Title: The interplay between cryptocurrencies and phishing crimes
Authors: Yuanyuan Zhang - American University of Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) [presenting]
Stephen Chan - American University of Sharjah (United Arab Emirates)
Jeffrey Chu - Renmin University of China (China)
Abstract: The purpose is to explore the relationship between global phishing crimes and cryptocurrency usage, with a specific focus on key metrics of the Ethereum platform. Utilizing sample monthly data covering the period of January 2016 to December 2022, inclusive, a quantile on quantile regression approach is employed to analyze the relationship between returns of global phishing crime numbers and Ethereum's key financial metrics (including total number of transactions, average price per transaction, average transaction quantity, aggregate quantity of tokens traded, conditional on the states of the respective markets. The results indicate a significant positive relationship between changes in phishing crime numbers and several of Ethereum's financial metrics, in particular, with large increases in the total number of transactions, average transaction price, and transaction quantity. The findings provide initial insights into the connection between cryptocurrency usage and global phishing crimes, which can aid crime agencies and regulators in designing actionable strategies.