Chinese organized crime networks moved $16 billion in crypto in 2025. Southeast Asia has become a base for these networks as China tightens enforcement.

CNBC.com Published Sun, Feb 1 2026

Key Points

  • Chinese-language crypto networks moved $16.1 billion in illicit funds, about 20% of the global crypto crime market.
  • Telegram “guarantee” platforms act as key hubs linking launderers, criminals and sanctioned actors.
  • Southeast Asia has become a base for these networks as China tightens enforcement.
SIHANOUKVILLE, CAMBODIA - JANUARY 18: Amber Casino and former scam center, owned by Chen Zhi, a Chinese businessman who was deported to China, is seen in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, on January 18, 2026. Casinos and scam centres shape life in Cambodiaâs Sihanoukville. Wealth is concentrated among finantial elite while poorer people work in harsh conditions for the rich, with reports of kidnappings, forced labour and torture, particularly involving workers in scam centres; tuk-tuks are fitted with curtains to c

Amber Casino and former scam center, owned by Chen Zhi, a Chinese businessman who was deported to China, is seen in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, on Jan. 18, 2026.

Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images

Chinese-language money laundering networks funneled an estimated $16.1 billion in illicit funds through cryptocurrency transactions in 2025, according to a report released Tuesday by blockchain data analysis firm Chainalysis.

These networks, known as CLMNs, accounted for roughly one-fifth of the illicit cryptocurrency ecosystem in 2025, which Chainalysis valued at over $82 billion.

The criminal networks primarily operate through various channels and chat groups on the messaging platform Telegram, where launderers advertise their services to prospective customers. These postings often include pictures showing heaps of cash and public testimonials as proof of liquidity and service quality, according to the report.

These Telegram-based channels, known as “guarantee” platforms, function as marketing hubs or informal escrow services that connect vendors with prospective clients. While the platforms do not control the underlying transactions, Chainalysis said they are the main conduits through which illicit deals are arranged.

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Lừa đảo ngày càng tinh vi trên thị trường tài sản mã hóa

Việt Nam đứng thứ 3 thế giới về giao dịch tiền ảo

tapchitaichinh.vn Thanh Hằng 17:35 25/05/2025

Thị trường tài sản mã hóa mang đến cơ hội, nhưng cũng đầy rẫy cạm bẫy. Trong bối cảnh các thủ đoạn lừa đảo ngày càng tinh vi, các nhà đầu tư cần học cách nhận diện, phòng tránh các mô hình lừa đảo để tự bảo vệ mình.

Trong những năm gần đây, thị trường tài sản mã hóa (crypto) đã bùng nổ tại Việt Nam, thu hút một lượng lớn nhà đầu tư, đặc biệt là giới trẻ. Với tiềm năng lợi nhuận cao và tốc độ tăng trưởng ấn tượng của các đồng tiền như Bitcoin, Ethereum, hay các mô hình tài chính phi tập trung (DeFi), không ít người đã kỳ vọng đây sẽ là cơ hội đổi đời.

Cạm bẫy lừa đảo ngày càng tinh vi trên thị trường tài sản mã hóa.
Cạm bẫy lừa đảo ngày càng tinh vi trên thị trường tài sản mã hóa.

Theo số liệu từ Triple-A, năm 2024 có hơn 17 triệu người Việt Nam đang sở hữu tài sản mã hóa, chiếm gần 17% dân số. Tuy nhiên, sự phát triển nhanh chóng này cũng đi kèm một lỗ hổng lớn: phần lớn nhà đầu tư là người mới, tiếp cận thị trường thông qua mạng xã hội hoặc lời rỉ tai, không có nền tảng về công nghệ blockchain, pháp lý tài sản số hay các phương thức lừa đảo phổ biến hiện nay.

Mới đây, thông tin về “Madam Ngo” bị Interpol truy nã vì tội lừa đảo đầu tư tiền điện tử và ngoại hối, lừa đảo hơn 2.000 nạn nhân người Việt Nam số tiền khoảng 300 triệu USD đã gióng lên hồi chuông cảnh báo về những rủi ro tiềm ẩn trong thị trường này.

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Is Cambodia serious about ending organized cyberscams?

DW.com

Cambodia’s central bank has reportedly revoked the banking license of a conglomerate accused of illicit online activities. But doubts abound about Phnom Penh’s commitment to taking action against cyberfraud networks.

A symbolic image of cybercrime, a person typing on a keyboard
Southeast Asia’s vast cyber scam industry exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic when many of the region’s illegal casino operators turned to online fraudImage: allOver-MEV/IMAGO

The banking arm of a Cambodia-based conglomerate accused of running the world’s “largest ever illicit online marketplace” has had its banking license revoked by the Cambodia’s central bank, Radio Free Asia reported last week.  

Huione Guarantee, the Telegram marketplace of Huione Group, has reportedly processed up to €22 billion ($24 billion) in illicit transactions since 2021, making it by far the world’s largest illegal online marketplace, cryptocurrency compliance firm Elliptic reported last year.

Huione Pay, the group’s banking arm, had its license withdrawn because of noncompliance with “existing regulations and recommendations that may have been made by the regulators,” a National Bank of Cambodia spokesperson told Radio Free Asia, a US Congress-funded media outlet.

Hub for cyberscams

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“More than 0s and 1s”: Cambodia battles cybercrime

UNODC.org

Through training held in Phnom Penh, UNODC is helping to build a more robust response to cybercrime in Cambodia.

Photo: UNODC / Laura Gil

Through training held in Phnom Penh, UNODC is helping to build a more robust response to cybercrime in Cambodia.

All the screens in the room, including the one projected on the wall, have turned black, and a series of green letters have started to rain down. “Your wallet has been stolen,” one of the trainers says. All participants —some in uniform, others in suits— start scrolling down, looking for the fictitious cybercriminal.

The mix of Cambodian cybercops, law enforcement officials and judges in the room each have a laptop, and each have a task at hand: to seize the cryptocurrencies before it’s too late. If they collect and manage the digital evidence, they have succeeded, because that evidence can be later presented to the court. On their screens, what they are seeing is a simulation of a cyber-enabled fraud case involving cryptocurrencies in which criminals operate nowadays.

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