Chinese-language money-laundering networks on Telegram processed approximately $16.1 billion in illicit cryptocurrency in 2025. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis reports that these groups accounted for nearly 20 percent of all on-chain money laundering last year, estimated at over $82 billion.
These networks, often called CMLNs, operate large communities and chat groups that openly advertise “cleaning” services to criminals. Many channels post images of cash, rates, and purported client reviews to convince scammers, fraud rings, and other criminals to send them tainted funds.
Most of this activity happens on Telegram, where administrators use Chinese-language “guarantee platforms” that function as escrow and matchmaking hubs. These platforms connect customers with launderers but typically do not hold the funds themselves, which can complicate enforcement.
The Role Of Tether and “Guarantee” Platforms
Stablecoins, particularly Tether (USDT), are crucial to these scams, according to reports from Chainalysis and other experts. Criminals prefer USDT because it maintains a near-dollar value, is easy to move across networks, and is widely recognized in underground markets.
Within these Telegram ecosystems, “guarantee” services such as Huione and Xinbi have become key hubs, handling funds for numerous criminal clients. Vendors on these platforms offer several laundering methods, including over-the-counter swaps, gambling-based flows, “Black U” discounted crypto sales, and networks of money mules who move cash on the ground.
Chainalysis found that, together, these CMLN services processed approximately $44 million in cryptocurrency per day through nearly 1,800 active wallets in 2025. The fastest-growing services, such as Black U-style brokers, reached one billion dollars in volume in just a few months.
Links to Global Scams and Organized Crime
Investigators report that these Chinese Telegram networks do not serve only local criminals. They have become a global hub for money laundering for many types of crime. Chainalysis and other analysts have traced funds from pig-butchering scams, Southeast Asian scam compounds, and even North Korea-linked hacks flowing through the same clusters of wallets and Telegram groups.
The report notes that CMLNs now regularly launder more than 10 percent of funds stolen in pig-butchering schemes, which target victims in the US and around the world. Researchers report that Chinese underground bankers and Telegram-based services have, in effect, built a parallel financial system that facilitates the movement of money outside banks and regulated exchanges.
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