Crypto Laundering Surge Tests Global Financial Defenses
Cryptocurrencies facilitated the laundering of at least $82 billion last year, a staggering leap from $10 billion in 2020, according to a Reuters report. This exponential growth highlights digital assets' deepening entanglement with illicit finance. Criminal networks now exploit blockchain's speed, pseudonymity, and borderlessness to MOVE funds globally—transforming what was once a niche darknet concern into systemic risk.
Chinese-language networks have emerged as pivotal players, operating across jurisdictions and blending informal banking, online marketplaces, and crypto exchanges to obscure trails. These groups often intersect with scams, gambling rings, and transnational fraud operations. Regulatory assumptions that blockchain analytics alone could curb abuse are being challenged by this adaptive underworld.
