Cryptocurrencies Enabled $82 Billion in Money Laundering in 2025
This surge has turned illicit crypto transactions into a growing concern for global financial authorities and regulators.
Quick overview
- Money laundering through cryptocurrencies reached at least $82 billion in 2025, a significant increase from $10 billion in 2020.
- Chinese-language money laundering networks processed approximately $16.1 billion in 2025, accounting for about 20% of all identified crypto money laundering volume.
- These networks utilize various techniques, such as 'guarantee platforms,' to evade detection and complicate enforcement efforts.
- The global nature of cryptocurrencies and the absence of a uniform regulatory framework hinder effective supervision and control.
Blockchains publicly record the addresses involved in every cryptoasset transaction, but identifying the real individuals behind those operations remains highly complex.
A private report revealed that money laundering through cryptocurrencies reached at least $82 billion in 2025, a figure that marks a sharp increase from the roughly $10 billion estimated in 2020.
This surge has turned illicit crypto transactions into a growing concern for global financial authorities and regulators.
According to a recent report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, the increase is not only quantitative but also qualitative. While blockchains provide public records of transaction addresses, linking those addresses to real-world identities is difficult, significantly complicating oversight and enforcement efforts.
Despite the technical traceability offered by blockchain technology, the sophisticated methods employed by criminal networks continue to hinder the identification of illicit actors.
Chinese-language blockchain networks dominate the phenomenon
One of the report’s most striking findings is the explosive growth of so-called “Chinese-language money laundering networks” (CMLN).
These organizations, which began to consolidate during the pandemic, processed approximately $16.1 billion in 2025 through nearly 1,800 active wallets—equivalent to about $44 million per day in illicit funds. Altogether, these networks accounted for roughly 20% of all identified crypto money laundering volume that year.
The expansion of these networks has been extraordinary. According to some analyses, flows into CMLNs grew thousands of times faster than other laundering channels traditionally associated with centralized exchanges or decentralized finance (DeFi).
Techniques and regulatory evasion
These networks rely on a variety of techniques to evade detection. Among the most prominent are so-called “guarantee platforms,” which operate as escrow-like services, allowing money launderers to offer or locate laundering services with greater ease and a certain degree of anonymity.
Through these systems, criminals can fragment, move, and convert illicit funds across multiple stages, making it far more difficult for authorities to trace transactions.
Although countries such as China have banned cryptocurrency trading and prosecuted thousands of individuals linked to crypto money laundering, these networks continue to persist and evolve, adapting to regulatory pressure and migrating to alternative channels when confronted with enforcement actions.
The global nature of cryptocurrencies, combined with the lack of a uniform international regulatory framework, continues to complicate supervision and control efforts.
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