A recent report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), titled “The Coin Laundry,” has unveiled evidence of criminal activities conducted through major cryptocurrency exchanges, aimed at evading global regulatory scrutiny.
The investigation alleges that money launderers, linked to drug trafficking, Southeast Asian scam centers, and North Korean hackers, have been leveraging major exchanges to facilitate their illicit operations.
Crypto Money Laundering Operations Linked To Huione Group
The ICIJ’s analysis highlights that, as recently as July 2025, the Huione Group, a Cambodian financial entity flagged by US authorities as a “primary money laundering concern,” transferred approximately $1 million worth of Tether’s USDT stablecoin daily to accounts at Binance.
This flow amounted to over $408 million from Huione to Binance customer accounts between July 2024 and July 2025. Notably, these transactions allegedly occurred while Huione was under the supervision of two court-appointed monitors, established as part of Binance’s plea deal with US regulators in November 2023.
The report goes on to reveal that at least $226 million also shifted into accounts at OKX, another major crypto exchange, during the five months following OKX’s guilty plea in February for operating an unlicensed money transmitter.
ICIJ’s report also explores a network of cash desks and courier services that operate in cities such as Hong Kong, Toronto, London, and Istanbul, allowing individuals to anonymously convert cryptocurrency outside the view of financial authorities. These locations have emerged as largely unregulated hotspots for laundering money.
In a separate investigation, ICIJ examined an alleged pyramid scheme orchestrated by Vladimir Okhotnikov, who is accused of misappropriating at least $340 million from investors between 2020 and 2022 through a fraudulent investment platform.
Insufficient Regulatory Oversight?
The report highlighted that these illicit transactions often traverse anonymous digital wallets and tools like “swappers,” which enable users to automatically exchange cryptocurrencies without identity verification, complicating law enforcement efforts to trace illicit activities.
A dozen former compliance employees from major exchanges, including OKX and Binance, reported to ICIJ that they struggle to keep pace with “increasingly sophisticated criminals.”
Regulators around the world are responsible for ensuring that cryptocurrency firms comply with anti-money laundering laws. However, the report asserts that the current landscape is characterized by “fragmented enforcement,” resulting in “insufficient oversight,” according to the ICIJ.
According to ICIJ’s findings, authorities have imposed at least $5.8 billion in fines and penalties against cryptocurrency exchanges. Meanwhile, consumer and business losses from crypto-related crimes are escalating.
In the United States alone, the FBI estimates that Americans lost approximately $9.3 billion to crypto crimes in 2024, a 67% increase from the previous year.
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