![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cointelegraph:a66488878094b-ca10f5a08fe579bd828efc9cf08059ac-resized.webp.webp\")
<\/p>\nIllicit entities received around $141 billion via stablecoins in 2025, the highest level observed in the last five years, says blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs.<\/p>\n
TRM said in a report released on Tuesday that the increase doesn\u2019t reflect a broader growth in crypto-enabled crime, but does show a \u201cdeeper reliance on stablecoins within specific activity types where they offer clear operational advantages.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stablecoins have been particularly used in sanctions-linked networks and large-scale money movement services, it said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sanctions-related activity accounted for 86% of all illicit crypto flows in 2025. Of the $141 billion in stablecoin flows, around half, or $72 billion, was linked specifically to the Russian ruble-pegged token A7A5, \u201cwhose activity is almost entirely concentrated within sanctions-linked ecosystems,\u201d TRM said.<\/p>\n
Russian-linked networks, such as one called A7, intersect with other state-linked ecosystems, including entities tied to China, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela, \u201cunderscoring how stablecoins have become a connective infrastructure for sanctioned actors seeking to move value outside traditional financial controls,\u201d TRM stated.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Guarantee marketplaces exclusively on stablecoins<\/p>\n
Comparatively, scams, ransomware, and hacking activity make more selective use of stablecoins, often favoring Bitcoin (BTC) or other crypto assets before using stablecoins later in the laundering process.<\/p>\n
The report also noted that categories such as illicit goods and services and human trafficking showed \u201cnear-total stablecoin usage,\u201d suggesting these markets \u201cprioritize payment certainty and liquidity over price appreciation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Volume on guarantee marketplaces like Huione surged to over $17 billion by late 2025, predominantly in stablecoins.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that roughly 99% of this volume is denominated in stablecoins reinforces the role these services play as laundering infrastructure, not speculative venues,\u201d they stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Related: Crypto launderers are turning away from centralized exchanges: Chainalysis<\/p>\n
Chainalysis reported earlier in February that crypto flows to suspected human trafficking networks increased 85% year over year in 2025. International escort services and prostitution networks operated almost exclusively using stablecoins, they noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
TRM Labs reported that total stablecoin transaction volume exceeded $1 trillion on multiple occasions in 2025.<\/p>\n
Approximating this over a year yields around $12 trillion, meaning illicit use accounts for about 1% of the total.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Compared with the United Nations estimate, the amount of illicit money laundered globally in one year is 2% to 5% of global GDP, or around $800 billion to $2 trillion.<\/p>\n
Magazine: Chinese New Year boosts interest, TradFi buying crypto exchanges: Asia Express<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Illicit entities received around $141 billion via stablecoins in 2025, the highest level observed in the last five…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-292859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}