Crypto crime goes industrial as gangs launch coins, launder billions

Organized crime groups across Southeast Asia have scaled their operations by exploiting cryptocurrency and launching their own coins, exchanges and blockchain networks to launder billions of dollars, according to a new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The report said criminal syndicates are no longer just using existing crypto infrastructure. Instead, they are actively building tailored financial ecosystems to evade detection.

One example cited in the report is the Chinese-language ecosystem and marketplace known as Huione Guarantee, now rebranded as Haowang, which has processed more than $24 billion in crypto linked to fraud over the past four years.

Value of crypto funds received by Huione Guarantee continues to rise. Source: UNODC

Headquartered in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the platform has grown to more than 970,000 users and thousands of interconnected vendors.

“Concerningly, Huione has recently launched a range of its own cryptocurrency-related products, including a cryptocurrency exchange and trading application, online gambling platform, blockchain network, and US dollar-backed stablecoin designed to circumvent government controls,” the report stated.

Southeast Asia emerges as crypto crime hub

The UNODC warned that scam centers in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos have industrialized cybercrime, combining blockchain, artificial intelligence and stablecoins to fuel operations.

These centers run complex fraud schemes, including phishing, investment scams and “pig butchering,” generating billions annually, per the report.

Some of the largest pig butchering syndicates are reportedly clustered around the region, according to Cointelegraph Magazine.

Over the past year, several raids have led to the arrests of hundreds of people, including Chinese, Filipino, Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese nationals found at suspected cyber-enabled fraud operations.

In October 2024, Hong Kong police busted a scam center and arrested 27 people they accused of using AI deepfakes to carry out a crypto romance investment scam that defrauded victims of more than $46 million.

Likewise, in December 2024, Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency arrested 792 people in a raid on a building in the country’s largest city that it claimed was a hub for a massive crypto romance scam operation.

Locations of reported scam centers in Mekong. Source: UNODC

Custom stablecoins and exchanges evade oversight

The UN report highlights that syndicates are issuing their own stablecoins and creating private exchanges to bypass global financial regulations, which allows criminals to move funds seamlessly across borders without relying on mainstream platforms subject to Anti-Money Laundering controls.

Huione Guarantee has launched a suite of crypto-related products, which also includes a cryptocurrency exchange, a blockchain network (Xone Chain) and an online gambling platform. The group also announced the launch of a Huione Visa card in February 2025.

While Southeast Asia remains the epicenter, UNODC noted that these crypto-fueled operations are expanding into Africa, South America and the Pacific.

“The growing global impact of expanding Asian money laundering and underground banking networks cannot be understated,” the report stated, urging governments to close loopholes.

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