Recently, I noticed that the transparency of the cryptocurrency world is actually a double-edged sword. On the one hand, blockchain technology makes financial transactions transparent, but on the other hand, this transparency is also used by criminal organizations. A new report released by Chainalysis shows exactly that—crypto flows targeting human trafficking services increased by 85% last year, and transaction volumes exceeded hundreds of millions.

What’s notable is how this increase is happening. Fraud operations based in Southeast Asia, online gambling platforms, and money-laundering networks operating via Telegram are becoming increasingly organized. According to Chainalysis’s observations, these networks are not only scattered—they form a tight ecosystem on a global scale.

When we look into the transactions in depth, it becomes clear that different types of crime show different cryptocurrency preferences. Escort services and prostitution networks rely almost entirely on stablecoins—because price stability and fast conversion are critical for them. By contrast, vendors of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) have historically favored Bitcoin, but as Monero and privacy tools have emerged, this preference is changing.

Chainalysis’s findings indicate that escort service operators are deeply integrated with Chinese-speaking money-laundering networks—they convert stablecoins into local currencies within seconds. The transaction-size analysis reveals an interesting pattern: nearly half of escort transfers exceed $10,000, pointing to organized, large-scale operations.

CSAM operations present a somewhat different structure. Most transactions are under $100, and there is a shift toward a subscription-based model. Another concerning trend Chainalysis observed is the overlap between CSAM networks and sadistic online communities—abuse materials are being turned into money through crypto payments.

The report also notes that these operators generally use U.S.-based infrastructure for legitimacy, while keeping themselves overseas to reduce exposure. Without Chainalysis’s tracking, these networks would have remained far more hidden. The transparency of the blockchain puts criminals and researchers in an advantageous position—one of the most important paradoxes in the crypto world.