Blockchain analytics firm Bitrace says illicit crypto guarantee platforms in Southeast Asia now sit at the center of several criminal markets, using USDT on Tron and Ethereum, Telegram groups, bots, and anonymous payment tools to support gambling, money laundering, fraud, and human trafficking. In its report, Bitrace describes these platforms as centralized intermediaries that replace smart-contract escrow with platform credit, seller deposits, reporting systems, arbitration, and paid traffic channels. It says more than 19 billion USDT flowed into deposit addresses linked to over 100 such platforms between January 2021 and April 2026, with yearly inflows rising and peaking in 2025. The report breaks the business into private-group, public-group, and public-to-private-group models, then traces how those structures are used across online gambling portals, laundering rings, doxxing services, scam software operations, account trading, and cross-border trafficking networks. Bitrace says three major payment tools tied to leading guarantee platforms took in more than 4.8 billion USDT from May 2025 to April 2026. It also says 2,866 of 5,287 monitored Xinbi groups offered laundering-related services, accounting for 103 million USDT in deposits, or 66.05% of the platform’s total. Even after enforcement actions in 2025 and sanctions in 2026, Bitrace says Telegram remains the dominant operational layer for these networks.

The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an analysis and alert linking approximately $12.7 billion in suspicious financial activity to crypto investment frauds operated from Southeast Asian compounds. About 1,300 institutions filed 33,904 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) from September 2023 to December 2025. Money services businesses, primarily crypto firms, submitted 55% of reports ($5.5B), banks 41% ($6.4B), and securities firms the rest ($784.5M). Reports grew at an average monthly rate of 10.9%, and dollar amounts rose 18%. Scammers used at least 22 digital assets, most commonly Ethereum, USDT, and USDC. Funds were almost always converted to stablecoins, predominantly USDT, and moved via DeFi protocols or non-U.S. exchanges. About 25% of cases involved seniors, proportionate to the population share. The compounds are mainly in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. U.S. authorities have seized over $25 million in related funds this year.

The White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy on Aug. 13 released a 25-page report titled The Great Transshipment Scam, alleging that China uses more than 40 countries to reroute goods and avoid U.S. tariffs. The report estimated the annual scale of the practice at between $40 billion and $303 billion, but it also said those figures come from five separate methodologies and should neither be added together nor directly compared. Taiwan was placed in Tier 1, alongside Japan, South Korea, Canada, the European Union, India, Israel, and Mexico. The report described that group as large, diversified export platforms where transshipment risk is embedded within substantial volumes of legitimate trade. It also outlined economic impact estimates based on a $75 billion midpoint scenario, including a $113 billion to $150 billion annual GDP hit, displacement of 450,000 jobs, and $19 billion to $26 billion in lost federal tax revenue. The document also referenced a proposed AI-based enforcement system called Detective Border and said it is still too early to judge the net effect of the administration’s tariff and anti-transshipment measures.

Crystal Intelligence报告指出，自2018年以来，朝鲜Lazarus组织与韩国六起大型交易所攻击有关，确认被盗超1.2亿美元。韩国境内非法加密货币交易达71亿美元，其中64亿美元通过Hwanchigi洗钱网络流转。

The US DOJ froze over $701 million in crypto linked to investment scams targeting Americans. Authorities dismantled a recruitment channel and 503 fake investment sites. Singapore police also prevented $2.86M in losses during a joint operation.

FBI IC3 data shows 2025 crypto fraud losses reached $11.366 billion, up 22% from 2024; seniors aged 60+ lost $4.432 billion. Investment scams dominate with $7.277 billion in damages.

Coinbase froze over $3 million in cryptocurrency linked to Southeast Asian fraud syndicates as part of a DOJ-led "Disruption Week" with tech giants. Crypto investment fraud losses hit $7.2 billion in 2025, up 24%.

Tether and licensed Lao exchange Bitqik are starting a stablecoin education effort in Laos, combining online materials and quarterly city events with a goal of reaching more than 10,000 people in 2026.