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In short
- Recruitment funds tied to labor trafficking usually vary between $1,000 and $10,000.
- Prostitution and escort networks are turning to stablecoins.
- CSAM websites disproportionately depend on U.S.-based internet hosting infrastructure, in line with geographic evaluation.
Crypto use in suspected human trafficking rose 85% in 2025, reaching "a whole lot of tens of millions of {dollars} throughout recognized companies," in line with Chainalysis.
Launched Thursday, the 2026 Crypto Crime Report tracked funds tied to escort companies, labor recruitment for Southeast Asian rip-off compounds, and distributors of kid sexual abuse materials, or CSAM.
In accordance with the agency's intelligence analyst, Tom McLouth, the findings mark an industry-defining second.
“I haven’t seen anybody discuss human trafficking holistically inside the present crypto ecosystem and the way it’s being leveraged,” he informed Decrypt. “I feel one of many major causes is that it is a comparatively taboo topic. Individuals don’t like to take a seat on the dinner desk and discuss CSAM and industrialized exploitation.”
The findings come as crypto faces renewed scrutiny in legal investigations.
Justice Division disclosures have detailed early crypto investments by Jeffrey Epstein and his connections to high-profile {industry} figures.
On the similar time, a reported Bitcoin ransom demand within the kidnapping case involving Nancy Guthrie, mom of “Right this moment” present anchor Savannah Guthrie, has drawn vital media consideration.
McLouth mentioned large-scale crypto-linked crime is more durable to personalize than circumstances tied to well-known names.
“We’re not in a position to say this one particular individual is doing this one particular crime,” he mentioned. “Jeffrey Epstein, as we see within the information, is a reputation everybody can latch onto. However for a complete ecosystem, a complete {industry}, we’re not ready to do this.”
Whereas some stories citing Chainalysis confirmed that crypto transactions linked to suspected trafficking operations jumped 85% in 2025 to $260 million, Decrypt was unable to independently confirm that determine.
“We’re measuring inflows to crypto addresses we now have recognized with human trafficking or CSAM operators,” a Chainalysis spokesperson informed Decrypt.
“We aren't offering absolute values as a result of we all know our estimate is a decrease sure estimate, and we don't need an undercount to then be cited in all places,” they mentioned. “That's why we gave a spread within the a whole lot of tens of millions, so we might not less than talk scale.”
Comply with the information
The report breaks down how transaction patterns differ throughout classes.
In accordance with Chainalysis, blockchain evaluation confirmed 48.8% of transfers tied to Telegram-based worldwide escort networks exceeded $10,000 in 2025.
Roughly 62% of prostitution community transactions fell between $1,000 and $10,000, whereas recruitment funds linked to labor trafficking operations usually ranged from $1,000 to $10,000.
CSAM transactions had been usually small, the report mentioned, with roughly half being beneath $100.
In a single case cited within the report, a single CSAM website used greater than 5,800 cryptocurrency addresses and generated over $530,000 since July 2022. Individually, the Web Watch Basis recognized greater than 312,000 stories of kid sexual abuse imagery in 2025.
The report additionally traces the circulate of the funds, with blockchain information displaying crypto transferring from the U.S., UK, Brazil, Spain, and Australia into Southeast Asian hubs. Many publicly accessible CSAM websites depend on U.S.-based internet hosting infrastructure.
“To focus on these victims, as a result of there’s a perception that there’s extra wealth in English-speaking Western states, they should leverage infrastructure inside these states to higher goal these potential victims,” McLouth mentioned. “I feel that very same pondering is being leveraged on the CSAM degree of this ecosystem. The most important alternative for funds could also be from English-speaking Westerners, so that they leverage infrastructure in these states.”
Not simply Bitcoin
Cost strategies differ by class. Whereas Bitcoin stays broadly used, the report notes rising reliance on stablecoins amongst prostitution and labor trafficking networks, which may be transformed into native forex via Chinese language-language cash laundering networks.
CSAM distributors, the report says, are additionally more and more turning to Monero due to the flexibility to obscure transaction particulars.
Prison operations that after operated totally on the darkish internet now additionally use mainstream platforms, Chainalysis claims.
The report discovered that trafficking-related companies depend on Telegram-based “assure companies” similar to Tudou and Xinbi, which maintain crypto in escrow till transactions are confirmed.
It additionally identifies Telegram recruitment channels tied to Southeast Asian rip-off compounds, the place discussions embrace transporting detained staff throughout borders.
McLouth famous that whereas these operations exist on Telegram, the corporate has made efforts to curb crime utilizing its app. Decrypt has approached Telegram for remark.
“We now have additionally seen intervention and motion taken by Telegram, a lot in order that a number of the most distinguished assure companies created their very own third-party purposes that had been marketed on app shops like Apple and Google Play,” he mentioned.
McLouth emphasised that whereas crypto continues to play a big position in CSAM and human trafficking, that quantity pales compared to the position of fiat currencies.
“From the angle of crypto, we wish to emphasize that crypto isn’t enabling the crime,” he mentioned. “Crypto is permitting us to reveal it, and gives new alternatives for countering it and having these discussions primarily based on the truth that we haven’t been in a position to have beforehand.”
McLouth mentioned the figures don’t bode effectively for 2026 and may immediate a broader dialog about enforcement and accountability.
“In my opinion, that is industry-defining. We don’t deal with particular figures as a result of it will possibly undersell the human toll,” he mentioned. “That is actual human trafficking, actual intercourse trafficking, actual labor trafficking. These are actual folks being affected.”
