Reporters worldwide reveal billions in dirty money moving through crypto

A sweeping new investigation has revealed how some of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges have quietly become pipelines for criminal money, enabling drug cartels, cyber-scam networks and sanctioned actors to move billions with ease.

The project, The Coin Laundry, was carried out by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) alongside more than 100 reporters in over 35 countries. It found that major platforms, including Binance, OKX, Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit and KuCoin, repeatedly received and processed funds tied to global crime syndicates, even at moments when they faced intense regulatory scrutiny and court-ordered monitoring.

ICIJ said the findings show “how the rise of blockchain technology – coupled with the speed, anonymity and global reach of cryptocurrency transactions – has quietly spawned a shadow financial system that operates faster, darker and further beyond the reach of regulators and law enforcement.”

Over 10 months, journalists collected hundreds of wallet addresses linked to illicit activity – from police records, court documents, sanctions lists, victims, and even test transactions.

They then traced tens of thousands of blockchain transfers to map how criminal groups move money through mainstream crypto rails. The networks identified span continents: North Korean hackers, Chinese and Russian trafficking rings, fentanyl suppliers, Southeast Asian scam compounds, and Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.

“For decades, we’ve shown how hidden money moves through offshore havens. Now we’re revealing how the same forces are exploiting crypto markets to move illicit cash in plain sight,” said ICIJ Executive Director Gerard Ryle.

“Our investigation raises urgent questions: How complicit are major crypto exchanges in enabling criminal activity? And why are regulators struggling to keep pace with a financial system that thrives on opacity and speed?”

One focus of the probe was Huione Group, a Cambodian financial hub tied to Chinese fraud networks. Despite being labeled by U.S. authorities as a “primary money laundering concern,” Huione-linked wallets sent about $1 million in tether per day to Binance customer accounts as recently as July 2025.

In total, ICIJ traced more than $408 million in Huione funds into Binance between mid-2024 and mid-2025 — a period when Binance was under two court-appointed monitors following its 2023 guilty plea for violating U.S. anti-money-laundering laws.

OKX received at least $226 million from the same source, including $161 million after the public designation.

Exchanges deny wrongdoing. OKX said it “works closely with law-enforcement agencies around the world and use[s] a layered program… to identify, restrict, freeze, or refer suspicious activity.” KuCoin said criminals “may attempt to misuse open financial systems,” but insisted its own controls are “robust” and aligned with global standards.

But former compliance staff interviewed by reporters described a different reality: unmanageable volumes of alerts, relentless pressure to keep trading frictionless, and limited authority to block questionable funds. One ex-analyst called the workload “insane.”

For victims, the consequences are devastating. Across Canada, Japan, the U.S. and elsewhere, people lost homes, savings and retirement funds to scams routed through major exchanges. Many said police lacked the tools to follow the money. “My case is sitting in a filing cabinet,” one victim told investigators.

The investigation concludes that without meaningful oversight and real cooperation from the industry, crypto will remain an open door for the world’s most sophisticated criminals — while victims are left with almost no path to justice.