Crypto Flows Tied to Human Trafficking Jump 85% in 2025, Stablecoins Dominate Payments

Chainalysis reported a sharp rise in cryptocurrency activity connected to services suspected of supporting human trafficking. In 2025, transaction volumes across identified platforms climbed by 85% year over year, reaching hundreds of millions of dollars.

Source: Chainalysis

The surge is linked to Southeast Asia’s growing illicit ecosystem, where scams, illegal gambling, and trafficking networks overlap. Telegram plays a central role in coordinating recruitment, escort services, and money laundering. Blockchain transactions leave traces, giving investigators more visibility.

The four primary factors identified by Chainalysis were international escort services, forced scam labor agents, prostitution networks, and child abuse material vendors, with stablecoins being the most prominent in escort and prostitution services.

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Stablecoins and Large Transfers Signal Professional Operations

According to the report, international escort services indicate well-organized financial activities. In the transactions they conduct using Telegram, 48.8% of the transactions were valued at more than $10,000.

Source: Chainalysis

Some of the groups have also adopted tiered pricing systems for different East Asian cities, which range from 3,000 RMB ($420) to 8,000 RMB ($1,120).

Source: Chainalysis

Another group of labor placement agents associated with the scam compounds also demonstrated a pattern of predictable payments, where recruitment-related transactions were most commonly between $1,000 and $10,000.

Victims are recruited through fake job postings and then coerced into conducting romance and investment scams under violent threats.

Chainalysis has also detected connections to groups such as the Fully Light Group, which have been previously detected by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime for their involvement in illegal gambling and laundering activities.

Crypto Abuse Risks Raise Global Enforcement Concerns

The abuse material networks also revealed other disturbing patterns. For instance, many of the transactions are for less than $100, which is an indication of subscription-based services that make it easier for consumers to access the products while generating revenue for the operators.

One significant dark web CSAM operation identified in July 2025, with over 5,800 crypto addresses and more than $530,000 earned since 2022, was identified by Chainalysis.

According to Chris Hughes of the Internet Watch Foundation, there were 312,030 CSAM reports in 2025, the highest number ever.

Source: Chainalysis

Southeast Asia and Chinese-language CSAM networks showed significant international reach, with crypto transactions detected in countries such as the US, UK, Spain, Australia, and Brazil.

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