Chinese crypto networks move $16.1b in illicit funds in 2025: report

Chinese-language crypto networks moved an estimated US$16.1 billion in illicit funds in 2025, representing about 20% of the global crypto crime market, according to a report by Chainalysis.

These networks, known as CMLNs, primarily operate through Telegram channels that serve as ad hubs and informal escrow services, facilitating money laundering and other criminal activities.

The platforms often feature ads with images of cash and testimonials, connecting vendors with clients, including organized crime groups and sanctioned actors.

Chainalysis noted that cryptocurrencies like USDT and USDC are favored by criminals for their liquidity and relative anonymity, aiding covert transactions.

Southeast Asia has become a hub for these illicit networks, with many operations linked to scam centers and unlicensed casinos in countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar.

🔗 Source: CNBC

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Chat groups have grown into full-service laundering marketplaces

These money laundering networks run like businesses, using “guarantee platforms” such as Huione and Xinbi that serve as marketing and escrow hubs linking laundering vendors with buyers 1.
Since 2020, inflows to identified Chinese-language money laundering networks grew 7,325 times faster than inflows to centralized exchanges, Chainalysis reports 1.
UNODC (the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) describes vendors as increasingly specialized, with activity tied to in-demand jurisdictions outside Southeast Asia 2.
UNODC also links parts of this ecosystem to chemical diversion (rerouting regulated chemicals into illegal supply chains) plus trafficking supply chains in the Mekong region 3.

Stablecoins draw tighter regulation as compliant payment rails expand

The scale of Chinese-language laundering networks, along with other illicit activity, is pushing regulators to focus on stablecoins, with attention centered on anti–money laundering and terrorist financing risks 4.
The International Monetary Fund warns that money laundering plus circumvention of capital controls (rules that restrict cross-border movement of money) require a robust regulatory framework 5.
USDT is widely cited as a preferred asset for illicit actors, yet an industry report says Tether launched USAT, a dollar-backed stablecoin for the U.S. market under the GENIUS Act framework (a U.S. law creating rules for stablecoin issuance), with issuance handled by Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A. (a U.S.-chartered crypto bank) 1.
This points to a split between regulated institutional-grade stablecoin rails and a persistent gray market. Separately, a report cited in source material says business-to-business stablecoin payments on Ethereum (a blockchain network) rose 156% in 2025 1.