I dug around a little bit and couldn't find a source supporting either of our claims. I did find verified examples of crypto miners in cracked software[0]. I think the threat landscape for cracks has probably changed with the rise of crypto mining.

0. https://decoded.avast.io/danielbenes/crackonosh-a-new-malwar...

That's "precracked" software, which is big enough to disguise the presence of malware. I was talking more about patches/keygens to be applied, which are relatively tiny compared to a cryptominer (and, although I'm not sure about recent times since I've been out of the scene for over a decade, crackers used to be quite skilled and proud of making their releases tiny.)

There are plenty of trusted places that you can get clean cracks and keygens that have been thoroughly tested.

That being said, a small file size doesn't mean anything in the case of most cracks/keygens because you have to give them admin access to your system. Which means it can download and install anything it wants in the background.

It is possible. But there are respectable websites with cracked software which generally does not allow for malware. If you would be a little bit picky and careful, the chances are not that high.