Criminals used crypto to launder $82 billions last year
A recent Chainalysis analysis of 2025 crypto transaction data found that Chinese-language networks have become a dominant force in global digital crime. handling nearly 20% of all identified illicit crypto flows worldwide, about $16.1 billion in 2025, or roughly $44 million per day.
According to the analysis, the total illicit crypto laundering reached $82 billion last year, largely driven by the growth of specialized Chinese-language “guarantee platforms” and related services operating via Telegram, payment processors, and over-the-counter markets.
Using a combination of blockchain forensics, machine-learning models, and human intelligence, investigators traced illicit funds and identified 1,799 active crypto wallets tied to these networks.
Unlike regulated exchanges that comply with sanctions and know-your-customer requirements, these networks rely on decentralized or semi-private escrow systems. Platforms such as Huione and Xinbi facilitate marketplaces where brokers, mules, and laundering services transact billions of dollars without directly holding the funds. Despite enforcement actions in 2025, vendors rapidly re-established operations on new channels within weeks.
Chainalysis identified six distinct service types supporting different stages of laundering. The start is usually with services such as gambling platforms that break large sums into small transactions to hide their origins. Later on, over-the-counter services recombine those funds for entry into the legitimate financial system.
Investigators believe the networks are closely linked to off-chain capital flight channels used by wealthy Chinese nationals seeking to bypass domestic capital controls, providing the liquidity that fuels their rapid growth.
Experts say cryptocurrency has largely replaced older underground banking systems like the Black Market Peso Exchange and Fei Qian. Digital assets allow near-instant cross-border transfers without paper records or human intermediaries, using privacy coins, stablecoins, and fast-settlement blockchains to reduce processes that once took weeks to minutes.
Governments have responded with prosecutions and sanctions: China prosecuted more than 3,000 people in 2024, while the United States also targeted major facilitators. However, Chainalysis found that enforcement efforts often provide only temporary disruption, as operators quickly reappear under new names. The persistence of these networks highlights a key challenge for global regulators: while blockchains record every transaction, identifying who controls each wallet remains difficult without stronger coordination between regulators and forensic analysts.
