Surge in Human Trafficking Funded by Cryptocurrency

The seamless, global nature of cryptocurrency and its minimal regulations have enabled payments to anyone across the globe for virtually anything. Alarmingly, this now includes human beings, as victims of human trafficking are being forced into scam operations and industrial-scale sex trades, often bought and sold via crypto transactions that occur with little to no oversight, frequently in plain sight.

In new findings released today, the crypto-tracing firm Chainalysis revealed a significant increase in crypto-funded human trafficking transactions—primarily involving forced laborers trapped in Southeast Asian compounds and coerced into scamming online, as well as those involved in sex trafficking. Their analysis shows that these crypto transactions jumped by at least 85 percent year-on-year in 2025. The firm estimates these transactions amount to hundreds of millions of dollars each year, although they opted not to specify an exact figure, believing their estimates likely underrepresent the true scope of the problem.

“This continues the narrative of industrialized exploitation,” states Chainalysis analyst Tom McLouth. “The rise of borderless, low-cost payments has accelerated the scale of human trafficking operations.”

The trafficking operations identified by Chainalysis were predominantly run by Chinese-speaking criminal groups who advertised their services on Telegram. Many posts appeared on “guarantee” black markets operating via Telegram, like Xinbi Guarantee and the now-defunct Tudou Guarantee, which provide escrow services that accept cryptocurrencies to protect users from fraud. The company also noted other independent Telegram channels promoting prostitution services.

By examining the Telegram posts and collaborating with law enforcement and partner organizations, Chainalysis analysts traced the operations’ transactions, mainly conducted with “stablecoins”—cryptocurrencies linked to the US dollar to mitigate volatility, such as Tether and USDC. A significant portion of the profits from these trafficking ventures filtered back into Telegram-based guarantee markets, which function as major money laundering hubs, allowing vendors to exchange illicit crypto for cash.

Scam compounds in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos that exploit forced laborers—often misled by fake job offers from South Asia and Africa—have proliferated over the years. They now generate tens of billions of dollars in revenue annually, surpassing all other forms of cybercrime, with human rights organizations estimating that they have ensnared hundreds of thousands of coerced scammers. Chainalysis, however, highlighted that the bulk of the measurable growth in crypto-funded human trafficking can be attributed to sex trafficking. They discovered detailed Chinese-language advertisements on Telegram showcasing profiles of available sex workers by the hour, as well as long-term arrangements, and even services offering to transport sex workers internationally to locations like Macao, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Some ads alluded to potential sex trafficking of minors, referencing terms like “Lolitas” and “real high schoolers.” The analysis indicated that the payments from these operations predominantly go to entities managing large groups of women and girls rather than individual sex workers. Chainalysis found that 62 percent of transactions in the prostitution networks they studied fell between $1,000 and $10,000, while nearly half of the transactions related to international sex trafficking surpassed $10,000, indicating “organized criminal enterprises operating at scale,” as described by the company.