Altcoins News
By Sydney TheCMO
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Cryptocurrency transactions tied to human trafficking shot up 85% in 2025. The numbers are staggering.
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Chainalysis dropped new data showing these illegal payments hit hundreds of millions of dollars last year, way up from 2024.
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International escort services and prostitution networks lean heavily on stablecoins because the prices don't swing wildly like Bitcoin does.
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The transaction sizes tell their own story about how these networks operate. Escort services deal in big money - nearly half of all payments exceed $10,000, showing these aren't…
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CSAM operations work differently, with many transactions under $100. There's been a shift toward subscription models that provide steady income streams rather than one-off…
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Things get murky with money laundering. In 2025, CSAM operators increasingly turned to Monero and instant exchangers to clean their proceeds.
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US infrastructure has been leveraged for trafficking-linked services, boosting their scale and credibility.
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Chainalysis CEO Michael Gronager said during a February 15, 2026 press briefing: "While the technology provides unprecedented transparency, the complexity and scale of these…
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Law enforcement agencies in Southeast Asia are ramping up their focus on online gambling and scam compounds. These entities often serve as fronts for trafficking operations.
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Instant cryptocurrency exchangers play a big role in facilitating money laundering for trafficking activities.
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But there have been some wins. In December 2025, a coordinated Europol operation dismantled a major trafficking network that used cryptocurrencies for transactions.
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Interpol launched a new initiative in January 2026 aimed at enhancing cross-border collaboration on cryptocurrency-related crimes.
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The Financial Action Task Force released a report in February 2026 on cryptocurrency exchanges' role in facilitating illegal transactions.
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A University of Sydney study published in January 2026 found that most cryptocurrency transactions linked to human trafficking originate from just a handful of countries.
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The U.S. Department of Justice announced in February 2026 the indictment of several individuals involved in a human trafficking ring that operated through cryptocurrency…
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