New Trends in Cryptocurrency Crime: Changes in Regulatory Focus from the 2 Billion Money Laundering Case

In recent years, with the continuous expansion of the cryptocurrency asset market and the in-depth study of regulatory rules by criminals in various countries, the methods of using cryptocurrency assets for Money Laundering have also been continuously upgraded. This has not only impacted the financial order of various countries but has also led to potential risks such as foreign exchange outflow and a surge in new types of cybercrime.

Recently, a major case involving the use of encryption assets for Money Laundering 2 billion yuan and selling personal information of Chinese citizens abroad has been exposed. This case not only reveals the complexity of current crimes involving encryption assets but also reflects the latest trends in our country's efforts to combat such crimes.

1. A Special "Case within a Case" Involving Encryption Assets

According to public information, law enforcement agencies have jointly cracked a major money laundering case involving more than 2 billion yuan and the infringement of citizens' personal information. The criminal methods involved in this case are extremely covert and diversified, covering 15 provinces and cities in our country.

large-scale trafficking of personal information of citizens

Investigations show that the main suspects used overseas instant messaging tools to create multiple social groups, where they sold a large amount of personal information of Chinese citizens. This information includes sensitive data that can be specifically linked to individuals, such as ID card numbers, phone numbers, and home addresses. According to statistics, the total number of personal information sold has reached over one billion records.

It is worth noting that this personal information flowing overseas may not only be used for targeted scams and online gambling, but may also be used by foreign institutions to analyze our country's economic and social development status, and may even pose a threat to national security. This also reflects that there is still significant room for improvement in our country's protection of citizens' personal information.

using cryptocurrency for Money Laundering

To evade the anti-money laundering scrutiny of the traditional financial system, criminals choose to accept only encryption assets as a means of transaction. During the investigation, law enforcement agencies discovered a specialized money laundering gang involving encryption assets. The funding flow of this gang has the following characteristics:

1. The source of funds is complex and involves various encryption asset trading activities;
2. Frequent trading, funds stay in the account for a short time;
3. The transaction amount is fully out and in, with the incoming and outgoing amounts being basically equal.

According to the investigation, this Money Laundering gang laundered approximately 2 billion yuan over the course of a year, profiting over 2 million yuan.

2. New Trends in Cryptocurrency Crime and Changes in Regulatory Focus

According to data from the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the number of financial crime cases in 2023 has decreased, but remains at a high level. In the field of encrypted assets, the number of crimes has decreased, but the amount involved has surged, mainly concentrated in areas such as Money Laundering and illegal foreign exchange transactions.

The regulatory focus has shifted to anti-Money Laundering and foreign exchange control.

With the rapid development of the encryption asset market, the risk of it being used for Money Laundering has also increased. Currently, regulatory agencies in our country have shifted their focus to primarily aim at anti-money laundering and foreign exchange control. Economic and financial crimes involving large-scale cross-border fund settlements have become key targets for strict investigation, mainly including Money Laundering, gambling-related offenses, illegal business operations (illegal buying and selling of foreign exchange, illegal fund outflows) and fraud (telecom fraud), among others.

The attitude towards individual "speculating on coins" has become more moderate.

From the investigation process of this case, it can be seen that law enforcement agencies have increased their tolerance for individual "speculating on coins" and similar behaviors. Although a large number of domestic citizens participating in encryption asset trading were discovered during the investigation, no further punitive measures have been taken against these individuals at present. This indicates that the current regulatory focus is not on the personal holding and trading of encryption assets, and the relevant regulatory attitude has relaxed.

3. Conclusion

The strict crackdown on large-scale Money Laundering of encrypted assets and related upstream crimes has become a major trend in global regulation of encrypted assets in recent years. Although encrypted assets facilitate cross-border capital flows, the so-called "anonymization" advantage no longer exists with the advancement of on-chain data analysis technology. For money laundering activities in similar cases, investigation and evidence collection are merely a matter of time and technical costs for law enforcement agencies.