More than 1,100 people have been arrested for laundering illegal funds stolen through phone and Internet fraud in China in crypto, Reuters reported on the 10th (local time).
China’s Ministry of Public Security said it attacked 170 criminal organizations on charges of laundering illegal funds in crypto until the afternoon of the previous day. Those suspected of illegal money laundering were reportedly commissioned to convert illegal funds into virtual currency and received about 1.5-5% of the commission.
The China Settlement and Clearance Association said that the number of crimes using virtual currency has recently been on the rise. Due to the anonymity and convenience of virtual currency, the association is concerned that it is rapidly emerging as a major means of money laundering around the world.
In particular, crypto is commonly used as illegal gambling funds, according to the news agency. In fact, about 13% of gambling sites support the use of virtual currency. Illegal funds distributed in virtual currency are characterized by difficulty in tracking by authorities due to blockchain technology.
China is recently tightening regulations on crypto. Earlier, Chinese authorities blocked the search of cryptocurrency overseas exchanges on famous portal sites such as Baidu and Sogo and expanded the crackdown on mining sites across China.