Organized Crime Shows High Level of Professionalization, Low Level of Crypto Sophistication

This blog is an excerpt of our 2025 Crypto Crime Report, available now!

Organized crime has always quickly adapted alongside progress in technology and law enforcement, exploiting innovations that improve efficiency and financial anonymity. The rise of cryptocurrency has accelerated this dynamic, enabling cross-border transactions with unprecedented speed and scale. As adoption continues to accelerate overall, crypto is now involved in a range of illicit activities, spanning drug smuggling, human trafficking, intellectual property theft, and even violent home invasions. Traditional crime groups that once relied on cash increasingly turn to crypto in an attempt to obscure proceeds, facilitate payments, and evade detection.

Despite this shift, many criminal networks exhibit high levels of professionalism but a relatively low level of crypto sophistication. While traditional organized criminal networks have turned to crypto for its speed and perceived anonymity, they often lack the technical expertise needed to effectively conceal their activities. As a result, they inadvertently expose their financial dealings, making it easier for investigators to trace their operations. Even when advanced obfuscation techniques are present, blockchain analysis can reveal relationships that traditional investigative methods struggle to detect. A money service business in West Africa processing illicit funds may be directly tied to Europe-based wildlife smugglers, or a darknet market may route payments for fentanyl through a financial facilitator by cybercriminals. Once fragmented and difficult to see, these connections are now visible in ways that fundamentally change how law enforcement can disrupt transnational organized crime.

Following the supply chain from Chinese labs to Latin America

The global fentanyl trade has long depended on financial secrecy, with Mexican drug cartels leveraging opaque banking systems and underground money networks to pay Chinese chemical vendors for precursor materials. Historically, tracing these financial relationships required infiltrating closed networks, navigating opaque banking systems, or relying on siloed intelligence. Now, blockchain transactions provide a clear record of payments between cartel-linked wallets and international suppliers, revealing not just individual transactions, but the broader financial infrastructure that sustains this fatal trade.

A recent civil forfeiture case in the Eastern District of Wisconsin has exposed crypto’s growing role in transnational drug trafficking networks, particularly in the financial ties between Mexican cartels and Chinese chemical suppliers. The case, which resulted in the seizure of over $5.5 million in cryptocurrency, illustrates how blockchain analysis can reveal hidden financial flows within organized crime.

Unraveling the cartel’s laundering network on-chain

The investigation began with a money laundering probe targeting a Mexican cartel-affiliated network operating in the U.S. Authorities identified centralized exchange (CEX) accounts and crypto addresses used to move illicit drug proceeds, primarily linked to the sale of fentanyl and methamphetamine. Chainalysis traced significant transfers from these addresses to wallets previously identified as belonging to Chinese companies supplying fentanyl precursors.

The on-chain link confirmed a direct financial relationship between cartel-linked money launderers and overseas suppliers, as seen in the below Reactor graph.

What makes this case notable is the unsophisticated yet large-scale nature of the laundering operation — a pattern which is frequently observed in other forms of organized crime onboarding to crypto. Unlike cybercriminal groups such as North Korean state-backed actors who use advanced obfuscation techniques, cartel-affiliated launderers operated more openly, moving funds swiftly through centralized accounts and unhosted wallets. A quick turnaround between the laundering of cartel proceeds and the purchasing of more supplies shows their urgency.

While criminals often erroneously view cryptocurrency as a tool for financial anonymity, the cartels’ adoption of crypto made them more vulnerable rather than protecting them. While the cartel may have benefitted from speed, low transaction fees, and cross-border efficiency, their reliance on the blockchain has allowed investigators to trace these transactions more easily than would have been possible with traditional cash-based money laundering. Furthermore, it allows even greater potential for disruption because issuers and centralized services typically have the ability to freeze assets when necessary.

Chinese language Crime-as-a-Service bazaars enable swift industrialization of crime

In the evolving landscape of transnational organized crime, illicit marketplaces like Huione Guarantee have emerged as a one-stop shop for nearly every form of cybercrime. Initially positioned as a financial and e-commerce platform, Huione Guarantee has evolved into an extensive hub for money laundering, human trafficking, cyber fraud, and illicit financial services. Unlike traditional darknet markets that primarily cater to cybercrime, Huione has helped industrialize crime-as-a-service (CaaS) — providing access to both the infrastructure and financial tools required to sustain global black-market economies.

At the heart of its operation is a Telegram-based peer-to-peer (P2P) ecosystem, where criminal enterprises can seamlessly move funds, purchase illicit goods and services, and leverage built-in legal and financial support to evade law enforcement. It is the dark economy’s equivalent of a fully integrated Amazon-style marketplace facilitating scams, money laundering, human exploitation, and illicit financial flows.

A marketplace model for money laundering

In addition to providing the front-end services required to execute a broad range of illicit activities — data, infrastructure, social media management, and other technology support — Huione money movement services also offer the back-end support that illicit actors need to obfuscate and cash out their ill-gotten crypto. This can be done by a variety of methods, including the use of services explicitly offering money movement and running point (laundering), the use of gaming and gambling platforms, and in some cases, informal over the counter (OTC) vendors reportedly offering “clean” crypto trading proceeds via Telegram.

Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crypto move through Huione’s illicit services. The chart below shows the growth of these flows over time.

‘Black U’ laundering services’1 and Huione ‘Money Movement Services’, have maintained an upward growth trajectory, surpassing $600,000,000 and $200,000,000 in inflows respectively since 2022, making them one of the most prolific unregulated financial services in the world.

Additionally, if a launderer’s assets are seized or restricted due to suspicious activity, vendors on Huione offer legal services that claim to engage with exchanges to recover those funds for a fee, as shown below.

This offering claims to facilitate the unfreezing of funds as a result of compliance practices for high-volume money launderers, allowing them to continue their operations largely uninterrupted.

Huione’s ‘Travel Service’ appears to offer a gateway for human trafficking

One of Huione’s most insidious offerings is its role in human trafficking and forced labor networks. A deeper analysis of its escort service ecosystem reveals explicit overlaps with Huione Travel Service vendors, suggesting a highly organized pipeline where trafficked individuals are advertised, transported, and monetized across borders. Many Huione Escort Service vendors explicitly market international delivery options, shown in the below screenshots.

There are direct financial interactions between these escort services and Huione Travel Services vendors — strongly suggesting that travel services are being used to facilitate human trafficking logistics. In the Reactor graph below, we can see a series of overlapping on-chain connections between Huione’s travel and escort services.

Given the sheer scale of Huione’s ecosystem, these insights only scratch the surface of the platform’s role in global human trafficking networks and other illicit activities, but provides a powerful and alarming example of how operators on Huione’s platform extend well beyond the scam ecosystem.

Illicit marketplaces pose a law enforcement challenge

While Huione Guarantee is presently the largest illicit marketplace, Chainalysis is monitoring similar platforms that continue to emerge. Illicit marketplaces like Huione Guarantee operate outside of the regulated space, presenting challenges to law enforcement due to their decentralized operations, global reach, and integration with both legitimate and underground financial systems. Unlike traditional darknet markets that operate in isolated corners of the internet, Huione functions as a publicly accessible platform, blending legal and illegal transactions. Its peer-to-peer (P2P) financial services allow money laundering networks to exploit gaps in regulatory oversight, particularly in jurisdictions that have weak enforcement mechanisms or are unlikely to respond to coordinated counter-financial crimes campaigns. Efforts to dismantle these networks will require international cooperation, blockchain intelligence, and strong collaboration between financial institutions, private sector partners, and law enforcement to identify and close loopholes that allow criminal enterprises to thrive.

Combating illegal wildlife trade (IWT) with financial crime enforcement

Wildlife trafficking has long been a highly profitable form of organized crime, deeply entangled with global networks engaged in illegal activities such as drug smuggling, arms trafficking, and cyber fraud. Despite its devastating impact on conservation, biodiversity, and natural ecosystems, the trade continues to thrive due to weak enforcement and lenient penalties. Financial crime investigations, particularly those leveraging blockchain analytics and anti-money laundering (AML) strategies, are becoming powerful tools in tackling these operations.

For an inside perspective, we spoke with Robert Campbell, Programme Director of United for Wildlife, which sits within The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales. United for Wildlife works to tackle the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) by bringing together stakeholders from public, private and non-profit sectors to protect endangered species and disrupt the criminality behind the trade. One element of the program focuses on engaging with financial institutions, enhancing their understanding of IWT and targeting the financial infrastructures behind wildlife crime.

Wildlife trafficking: Low-risk, high-reward crime

One of the biggest obstacles in combating wildlife trafficking is the low level of legal risk that traffickers face in most jurisdictions. Campbell explained that in large parts of the world, the penalties for wildlife crime remain minimal, making it an attractive enterprise for criminals. “In terms of risk versus reward, the rewards far outweigh the risks for traffickers. So we see them trading openly — a lot. There’s no need to trade on the dark web,” Campbell said.

Unlike drug or arms traffickers, who take extensive measures to avoid detection, many wildlife traffickers operate brazenly. They sell endangered species and illegal animal products on mainstream social media and commerce platforms. “Most of this trade is happening in the open because few jurisdictions are looking for it,” he added.

How wildlife traffickers use cryptocurrency

While traditional financial systems still dominate wildlife trafficking transactions, cryptocurrency is becoming an increasingly useful tool for criminals, particularly through African exchanges and peer-to-peer transactions. Blockchain analysis of a suspected cluster of wildlife trafficking addresses reveals the on-chain mechanisms of illicit wildlife trafficking, shown in the Reactor graph below.

Payments flowed from wallets to local CEXs without major efforts to conceal activity. Traffickers seem to hide in plain sight rather than deploy sophisticated laundering techniques. Crypto ATMs also play a role, allowing traffickers to convert cash from wildlife sales into crypto for easier cross-border movement. Additionally, intersections with other criminal enterprises are visible in the graph. Several wallets linked to wildlife trafficking funds also show connections to fraud shops and other illicit entities, reinforcing how wildlife trafficking and environmental crime are often embedded within larger organized crime networks.

Wildlife traffickers’ reliance on centralized, KYC-compliant exchanges offers a critical enforcement opportunity. Unlike criminals who prioritize obfuscation, many traffickers move illicit funds through regulated platforms, creating a straightforward avenue for law enforcement to intervene. By strengthening relationships with exchanges, investigators can gain off-chain intelligence that helps to map financial networks and trace key players in the supply chain. However, effective enforcement requires more than just transactional data. Corruption and complicity in certain jurisdictions can make direct action difficult, reinforcing the need for collaboration with NGOs, trusted local law enforcement, and private sector organizations. With on- and off-chain financial intelligence and cross-sector partnerships, authorities can disrupt trafficking networks at multiple levels: from small-scale sellers to higher-tier operators overseeing the trade.

How financial crime laws are shutting down wildlife trafficking networks

Given the weak legal penalties for wildlife crime, financial investigations offer one of the most effective means of disrupting these networks. Law enforcement agencies are shifting their focus to financial crime laws, using money laundering statutes to impose harsher sentences on violators. “Wildlife crime does not carry a high sentence in most countries — if it’s even a year, it’s often a slap on the wrist,” Campbell said. “But financial crimes like money laundering carry much higher penalties.” Authorities in several countries are already adopting this approach:

Mainland China has updated its anti-money laundering laws to include wildlife crime. Under the Chinese presidency in 2019-2020, FATF made tackling financial flows from IWT a priority.
In Singapore, a transit jurisdiction for environmental crimes and associated financial flows, domestic laws have been amended to designate serious foreign environmental crimes as money laundering predicate offenses. This empowers law enforcement to investigate money laundering for environmental crimes that occur outside the country’s borders.
Hong Kong has classified wildlife trafficking under its serious organized crime laws, enabling authorities to conduct in-depth investigations into money laundering and seize assets linked to trafficking networks.

Additionally, the United for Wildlife Statement of Principles has pushed financial intelligence units worldwide to prioritize wildlife trafficking investigations. Over 35 countries, particularly in notable wildlife trafficking hotspots like Sub-Saharan African and Latin America, have signed on to this initiative, including the U.S., UK, Singapore, South Africa, Brazil, and Mexico.

Crypto literacy is a major challenge for law enforcement

One of the biggest challenges in tackling wildlife trafficking through financial investigations is the lack of crypto tracing expertise. “You have this really powerful tool for law enforcement and financial units to use — if they know how to use it,” said Campbell. Many law enforcement agencies still lack the necessary training to follow on-chain financial flows related to IWT. “There’s such a lack of understanding of how crypto functions and how wildlife trafficking can be used for crypto,” he added. “Having Chainalysis provide simple, clear training has already been incredibly effective.”

At a recent United for Wildlife summit, officers who received blockchain analytics training from Chainalysis were able to identify direct overlaps with their existing cases. “We’ve seen investigators who initially didn’t understand blockchain suddenly recognize connections to cases they were already working on. That’s when the lightbulb goes off,” he said.

Global efforts and the role of blockchain intelligence

Campbell emphasized that cross-sector collaboration is key to making real progress. Governments, financial institutions, tech platforms, law enforcement, and Chainalysis can all work together to disrupt the financial incentives that drive the IWT. “The more we share insights on crypto trends and wildlife trafficking typologies, the better equipped we’ll be to shut these networks down,” Campbell said. “No longer is the investigation focused on just the person caught with wildlife. Now, financial investigations follow the money to dismantle entire networks,” he added. Blockchain intelligence is uncovering surprising connections between wildlife trafficking and other forms of organized crime. “You have professional launderers, you have people on the ground — it’s really insightful to see the whole network,” Campbell explained.

“Crypto’s transparency is an opportunity, not a threat,” Campbell emphasized. “With the right knowledge and tools, we can make the financial system more secure for everyone.”

Intellectual property theft on-chain: The corporate structure of digital piracy

A less obvious but growing threat, intellectual property (IP) theft has also evolved into a highly structured form of organized crime. Illicit Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) piracy networks — services that illegally stream copyrighted media — and gaming cheat distributors are leveraging crypto to facilitate transactions, obscure financial trails, and evade law enforcement. Although their use of cryptocurrency is largely unsophisticated, the shift from traditional off-chain methods to crypto-enabled crime has allowed these groups to scale and operate globally, making enforcement increasingly complex.

Illegal IPTV: Another high-profit, low-risk crime

Illegal IPTV services operate like shadow versions of Netflix, offering premium television, movies, and live sports at a fraction of legitimate prices. These operations run sophisticated content delivery networks while funneling payments through unregulated financial channels.

Michael Lund of Nordic Content Protection — the leading anti-piracy organization working for the television industry in the Nordics — explained that IPTV piracy has remained the most significant IP threat since 2017. “Criminals can duplicate legal products without production, licensing, or distribution costs,” he said. “They sell subscriptions at a fraction of the legal price, which appeals to consumers who either don’t know or don’t care about copyright laws.” Despite enforcement efforts, IPTV piracy remains a lucrative, yet low-risk crime. When one operation is dismantled, another quickly replaces it, ensuring uninterrupted service for customers. A reseller can invest as little as €200 to buy access credits, set up a website, and start selling illegal subscriptions, creating a recurring revenue stream.

Crypto has been one of illegal IPTV’s biggest enablers. Low-cost, borderless payments make crypto an ideal financial tool for these operations. Lund emphasized that operators are not motivated by ideology, but purely by profit. “These are financial criminals — they’re in it for the money,” he said. “Within six months of crypto gaining mainstream attention, every single illegal IPTV operation had integrated crypto payments.”

Although privacy coins like Monero can offer additional secrecy, most operators still prefer Bitcoin, Litecoin, and stablecoins due to their widespread availability and liquidity, said Lund. Some even mimic integrations with mainstream crypto exchange payment modules to falsely give customers a sense of legitimacy, as seen in the screenshot of one such platform below.

Hierarchy and financial flows of IPTV piracy

Despite their high transaction volume, most IPTV resellers lack sophisticated laundering knowledge. Entry-level resellers buy access credits from larger syndicates, resell subscriptions, and cash out through exchanges. Lund explained that while smaller resellers rarely bother to hide their tracks, top-tier syndicates are much more careful. “Some engage in advanced mixing because the amounts they receive are massive,” he noted.

Lund noted that globally, 20–30 major organized crime groups dominate IPTV piracy. These syndicates operate large-scale streaming infrastructures, process large payments, and employ financial specialists to launder funds. Lund described a recent IPTV operation where three criminals earned millions within months before being caught. “One guy was the technical mastermind, setting up the servers and handling crypto,” he said. “The other two were his business managers, handling sales and customer relations.”

Authorities seized millions in cash, cars, and real estate, but the case has dragged on for years, highlighting the enforcement and prosecution challenges of cross-border crime.

The underground gaming cheat economy

Beyond IPTV piracy, crypto payments also power the black market for gaming cheats. These cheats, designed to give unfair advantages in multiplayer games, undermine in-game economies and decrease publisher revenues.

Irdeto, a leader in digital security, tracks and combats cheat developers and sellers. They describe the cheat ecosystem as a structured, multi-tiered enterprise. Developers create cheats, sometimes keeping their communities small to avoid detection. Larger sellers expand operations, offering cheats for multiple games, while resellers distribute them at scale, handling logistics and customer service.

Irdeto noted that “resellers are the easiest to spot. These sellers often offer cheats for more than 50 titles.” While some developers avoid advertising, others use forums like ElitePVPers and OwnedCore to reach buyers. Many cheat sales are fully automated with purchases processed through Shopify or Sellix, delivering subscription keys instantly.

Cryptocurrency and the cheat economy

Crypto is the cheat industry’s primary financial enabler. Unlike PayPal or credit cards, which pose risks of chargebacks and account bans, crypto transactions are irreversible and borderless, allowing sellers to operate freely. “Cheat sellers often offer cryptocurrency as a payment option,” Irdeto explained. “Digital currencies provide a level of anonymity not offered by more traditional payments such as a debit or credit card, which require adherence with strict anti-fraud measures.”

Hax.market checkout page showing accepted payment methods and corresponding upcharges

Some cheat marketplaces, such as Hax.market, charge extra for PayPal or credit card payments but waive fees for crypto transactions. Bitcoin, Litecoin, and stablecoins dominate the market, while privacy coins like Monero are rarely used, as most buyers prefer widely recognized cryptocurrencies.

Fighting back against crypto-powered cheating

Gaming companies and cybersecurity firms are ramping up their efforts against cheat sellers. Irdeto’s kernel-mode (referring to the core part of an operating system) anti-cheat solutions offer deep system monitoring, while AI-driven fraud detection identifies suspicious player behavior.

Legal frameworks like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) help take down cheat-selling websites and remove them from social media. Irdeto highlighted that Microsoft’s upcoming restrictions on kernel space access could be a game changer, preventing cheat developers from embedding deep system exploits.

Defeating crypto-enabled IP crime

Despite its low risk nature, IP theft is drawing increased law enforcement and regulatory attention. As more investigators are trained on blockchain tracing , the financial backbone of these operations is becoming more exposed. Shutting down individual IPTV or cheat networks won’t eliminate the industry, but financial pressure on crypto laundering channels could significantly disrupt these markets.

The rise of violent crime linked to cryptocurrency

Historically, financial crimes involving crypto theft were largely confined to internet-based fraud, malware, phishing attacks, and scams. However, criminals are now brazenly shifting to physical methods of extraction. Law enforcement agencies and cybersecurity experts have observed a sharp rise in cases where individuals are subjected to violence to force crypto transfers, often from organized gangs.

The typologies of physical crypto attacks: Targeted and opportunistic

Julia G of zeroShadow, a full-stack Web3 security company specializing in exploit prevention and incident response, describes two primary types of physical crypto theft:

Targeted attacks on high-net-worth individuals: Victims are specifically chosen because their wealth is public knowledge. “In one case we had, the victim was taken hostage at his place of work, and the attackers knew how much crypto he owned and where his children were. These details were used to coerce him into transferring the funds.”
Opportunistic street crimes: Theft of a mobile phone or personal device escalates when attackers discover it contains a crypto wallet.

“Interestingly, in both cases we have seen that the attackers do very little to obfuscate the flow of funds on-chain.” Julia G explained. “In the cases we have worked, we’ve seen funds go to a cooperative exchange and instant exchangers within the first 48 hours of the theft.”

Notable incidents of crypto-related violent crime

The escalation from cyber fraud to physical attacks highlights how crypto crime, well beyond traditional categories, is blurring the line between digital threats and real world violence.

Kidnapping of Ledger co-founder and wife

David Balland, the co-founder of a popular crypto hardware wallet, and his wife were kidnapped from their home in Central France and held for ransom for cryptocurrency. Balland’s hand was mutilated during the ordeal. A police operation involving over 90 officers from GIGN — one of France’s elite tactical police units — rescued the couple, leading to the arrest of two individuals and the questioning of 10 others. Nearly all the ransom funds have been traced, frozen, and seized.

Home invasion network targeting crypto owners

A 24-year old Florida man led a robbery ring executing violent home invasions across multiple states, including North Carolina, Florida, Texas, and New York. Victims were restrained and forced to give up access to their crypto wallets and accounts.

Six men accused of holding Chicago family captive for $15 million crypto transfer

Six men were accused of kidnapping a family of three and their nanny at gunpoint after forcing their way inside the family’s home, holding them captive for five days. The kidnappers demanded a $15 million ransom in cryptocurrency. One suspect was arrested upon re-entering the U.S. from Mexico, while others are believed to have fled to China.

UK gang members sentenced for cryptocurrency kidnapping

Seven members of a UK gang were sentenced up to 20 years in prison for kidnapping and torturing a crypto investor, extorting approximately $124,000 worth of crypto over several months. The victim was repeatedly assaulted and locked in a cupboard overnight.

Blockchain is the ‘killer app’ in the fight against organized crime 

Traditional organized crime groups are increasingly adopting crypto, using a structured division of labor, intelligence gathering, and laundering operations. Cartels, wildlife traffickers, IPTV pirates, and even violent criminals are leveraging crypto not because they have mastered its complexities, but because it offers speed, efficiency, and a perception of anonymity.

However, their reliance on centralized exchanges, high-visibility transactions, and basic laundering techniques presents an invaluable enforcement opportunity — one that will likely not endure forever. Unlike sophisticated state-backed cybercriminals who employ advanced obfuscation tactics, many traditional crime groups are still operating in plain sight. Direct exchange cash-outs and simple P2P transfers dominate these illicit financial flows. Many traffickers and launderers are not yet using sophisticated privacy tools, meaning their transactions remain easily traceable on-chain. This transparency provides law enforcement, regulators, and financial institutions with an incentive to act now.

With the right strategies — enhanced compliance at the exchange and protocol level, advanced blockchain intelligence, and global law enforcement cooperation — authorities can dismantle these illicit networks before they adapt. While criminals see crypto as a tool for anonymity, its inherent transparency flips the advantage toward those who know how to use it. Unlike traditional financial investigations, where evidence is often siloed across different institutions, the blockchain offers a single, authoritative, and immutable ledger. Beyond just following criminals post-factum, Chainalysis enables proactive disruption — allowing investigators to follow movements real time, mapping out networks and generating leads that span across continents. As more crime moves on-chain, the ability to expose and dismantle these networks will only improve, shifting the balance in favor of those working to fight illicit finance.

Endnotes

[1] Black U services can be defined as operations in which vendors offer facilitation of laundering of stolen/illicitly obtained U.S. denominated stablecoins (i.e. Black U) in exchange for white (clean) stablecoins. This comes at a cost of a percentage of the overall amount transferred.