CMLNs—Chinese-language money laundering networks—have become a dominant infrastructure for crypto-based illicit fund laundering, accounting for about one-fifth of known activity in 2025 and moving roughly $16.1 billion across more than 1,799 active wallets.

The ecosystem spans six service types identified by Chainalysis, including running point brokers, money mule motorcades, informal OTC services, Black U services, gambling services, and money movement services, each playing a distinct role in the laundering process.

Experts urge a shift from platform-focused enforcement to disrupting underlying networks, calling for public-private collaboration that blends blockchain analytics with open-source intelligence and human sources to map and dismantle operations across jurisdictions.

Public-private cooperation is essential to disrupt these networks, combining on-chain analysis with traditional intelligence to target operators and vendor networks rather than just individual platforms.

Despite crackdowns, operators have migrated to alternative platforms, signaling industrial-scale laundering across multiple channels and methods.

Telegram-based guarantee platforms act as escrow hubs connecting buyers and sellers of laundering services, enabling rapid migration of vendors when channels are disrupted, with hubs like Huione and Xinbi facilitating marketing and trust-building.

Regulatory actions include OFAC and OFSI designation of Prince Group and FinCEN designation of Huione Group as primary money launders, yet core networks persist and migrate to new channels.

Experts warn of broader impacts, including potential distortions in asset prices, eroded investor confidence, and stronger links between cybercrime and traditional organized crime, underscoring the need for international regulatory action and surveillance innovation.

This shift redefines risks for banks, regulators, and financial blockchain compliance, signaling crypto crime on a scale that could involve state-sponsored or state-influenced activity.

The laundering process mirrors traditional stages—placement, layering, and integration—with patterns like aggressive structuring by Black U services and aggregation by gambling insiders, OTC desks, and other services.

Laundering techniques include guarantee platforms and money movement services; networks are adaptable and persistent, linking on-chain activity with off-chain crime and expanding across messaging platforms and multiple blockchains.

CMLNs operate openly across platforms with industrial-scale capacity, enabling cross-border services for organized crime in Europe and North America.