Chinese-language crypto laundering networks moved $16.1 billion in 2025
Stablecoins, OTC aggregation, Telegram channels and cross-border cash routes formed modular laundering stacks that accounted for nearly 20% of global crypto laundering.
Web3 Wavefronts - Digestible News on Crypto, DeFi and AI · theWeb3.news
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Show Notes
Chainalysis analysis found Chinese-language laundering networks moved $16.1 billion in 2025, about $44 million per day, across roughly 1,799 active wallets and representing nearly one fifth of an estimated $82 billion in global crypto laundering flows. Operators fragmented large inflows, routed funds through stablecoins and multi-hop wallets using peel chains and consolidation addresses, and used OTC brokers to aggregate and output larger tranches that converted to cash, bank transfers, or goods via cross-border couriers and off-chain payment corridors. Messaging platforms, particularly Telegram and Chinese-language chat channels, served as onramps for customer acquisition and vendor discovery, and guarantee-style marketplaces provided escrow-like matching and dispute resolution without custody; those marketplaces were not included in the $16.1 billion figure. Networks frequently touched major U.S. exchanges via intermediate wallets designed to obscure linkages, and operators shifted from direct exchange cash-outs toward multi-hop routing, stablecoin rails, OTC aggregation, and physical cash-out channels as AML measures increased seizure risk. Enforcement actions produced seizures and convictions, including a November 2025 UK case that led to seizure of approximately 61,000 Bitcoin, and analytics providers and law enforcement reported tens of billions in illicit funds frozen or recovered globally. Industry responses included tightening controls, refining stablecoin risk scoring and pause mechanisms, and expanding detection beyond exchange account monitoring to service-level typologies, messaging-layer monitoring, stablecoin corridor analytics, and cross-chain attribution. Operational priorities for product and compliance teams included instrumenting detection for fragmentation and consolidation typologies across chains and rails, increasing stablecoin corridor analytics and cross-chain tracing, building formal rapid-information-sharing channels with regulators and analytics partners, stress-testing off-ramps and counterparty onboarding to detect OTC-linked activity, and targeting coordinator nodes, OTC hubs, and cash distribution infrastructure in addition to visible vendors.
Source: https://web3businessnews.com/crypto/china-cmln-crypto-laundering-2025/
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