Cybercriminals and rogue nations are switching out of bitcoin into other, less well-known cryptocurrencies as bitcoin’s popularity surges, according to a number of recently published reports.

On the illicit front, Bloomberg claimed that cybercriminals are switching away from bitcoin because of the public and governmental attention focused on the cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin, despite claims to the contrary, has never been fully anonymous. Transactions over the bitcoin blockchain can be traced across the network. When bitcoin was much smaller, there wasn’t an awful lot of attention paid to tracking bitcoin transactions, but with every man and Japanese housewife participating in the bitcoin boom last year, tracking transactions has become commonplace, including transactions by criminals.

So instead, they’re turning to altcoins and although names such as Ethereum and Zcash are often mentioned, the No. 1 choice of cryptocurrency for criminals at the beginning of 2018 is Monero.

Founded in 2014, Monero varies from most other cryptocurrencies by running on a blockchain that obscures data relating to each transaction, meaning that transactions cannot be traced to an individual user. On the more technical side, as its webpage explains “Monero uses ring signatures, ring confidential transactions and stealth addresses to obfuscate the origins, amounts, and destinations of all transactions. Monero provides all the benefits of a decentralized cryptocurrency, without any of the typical privacy concessions.”

That makes Monero a perfect alternative to bitcoin because it prevents legal authorities from tracing criminal transactions.

As it turns out, it’s not just cybercriminals taking an interest in Monero, but crazy rogue state leaders as well. According to reports, a North Korean hacking group known as Andariel breached a server at a company in South Korea to steal 70 Monero coins last summer.

Andariel apparently is going after anything that generates cash, but it’s an interesting shift away from targeting bitcoin alone. North Korea has previously been blamed for hacking bitcoin exchanges and the WannaCry ransomware attack last year that demanded bitcoin payments. In July, it was reported to have started bitcoin mining.