Study Flags $16B Chinese Crypto Laundering Network Active in 2025
According to a new blockchain analysis , organized crime groups that speak Chinese handled almost $16.1 billion in illegal BTC transactions in 2025.
The number shows how these groups are getting better at using digital assets to launder money. It accounts for about one-fifth of the overall illegal crypto activity, estimated at over $82 billion for the year.
significant Results from the Chainalysis Report
, a blockchain intelligence company, presented its results on Tuesday. They show how Chinese-language money laundering networks (CMLNs) operate. There were more than 1,799 active wallets on these networks, which handled nahead $44 million in illegal crypto per day.
The research says these services are a major part of the crypto crime ecosystem, and the volumes shown are a low-end estimate of their scale.
The networks mostly assist with things like pig-butchering scams,, human trafficking, and fraud centers in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia. Money often comes from global scams and then goes through crypto channels.
Methods and Platforms Employed
Telegram-based “guarantee” channels are a large part of how CMLNs work. They act as informal escrow services, marketing hubs, and confidence-building measures for money laundering operations. These platforms assist criminals and money launderers connect. They commonly use desks, stablecoins like Tether (USDT), and diverse mixing or bridging methods.
Chainalysis found six main ways these groups launder money, including using high-volume brokers to make quick transactions and new “Black U-style” brokers that made billions of dollars in just a few months. The networks work with a wide range of clientele, from organized crime groups to businesses that have been banned.
A lot of the illegal crypto market is made out of the $16.1 billion that CMLNs laundered in 2025. Chainalysis said these organizations are now major actors in global money laundering, with much of their activity occurring within Chinese-speaking criminal networks.
What This Means and What Analysts Think
The , issued later than the U.S. government looked into CMLNs in August 2025, stresses the on-chain implementation of these plans.
Andrew Fierman, who is involved in related research, pointed out how organized the networks are: “We have spent the past few years diving deep into Chinese-language money laundering networks (CMLNs), and have uncovered massive organized criminal operations, which accounted for over $16B in laundered funds alone in 2025 (and this is a lower bound estimate)!”
Chainalysis highlighted the ecosystem’s wholesale analysis, which revealed distinct and the use of Telegram infrastructure to enable not only laundering but also related crimes such as the sale of fake equipment.
Regulators and law enforcement are concerned about the results because the networks rely on simple-to-use platforms like Telegram and , which make it harder to detect and stop them. As more people use cryptocurrencies, research says Chinese-language OTC and Telegram-based services need to be monitored more closely to prevent them from facilitating cross-border crime.
