As a reminder, money laundering is the legalisation of illegally obtained funds. In recent years, cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency exchangers have been increasingly used for this process, as digital assets are easier to hide information about senders and recipients of funds. However, cryptocurrencies themselves leave traces in the blockchain that cannot be cleaned up. As such, digital assets are hardly suitable for this role.

In general, cryptocurrencies are also used for other criminal purposes. In particular, digital assets are particularly popular with extortionists because the coins cannot be locked into users’ personal wallets. One of the most striking cases of BTC ransomware took place in the summer of 2020.

Cryptocurrency hacker

At that time, fraudsters attacked the database of the University of California, whose staff were researching the COVID-19 virus. As a result, after lengthy negotiations, the representatives of the educational institution still paid out 116 bitcoins to the attackers. Read more about this story in a separate article.

How cryptocurrencies are used

The suspects are accused of money laundering because they allegedly “handled financial transactions of unclear origin with transfers through banks, currency and cryptocurrency exchanges. The pair received more than HK$100 million or $12.8 million from 380 different bank accounts for more than 2,500 transactions.

Crypto money laundering

Yu Wing, a senior investigator at the Hong Kong Customs Bureau of Crime Investigation, noted in an interview with a local news outlet that one of the suspects, represented by a detained man, had funneled at least HK$38 million or $4.8 million through crypto exchanges, including in stabelcoins. Here’s his quote on the matter, published in Decrypt.

One of the cryptocurrencies being transferred was pegged to the dollar. The coins were converted into dollars on an exchange and transferred to my brother’s bank account. The money was then transferred to other personal and corporate accounts.

Yu Wing (left) and Daniel Mock of the Bureau of Crime Investigation at a press conference on the case

The pair were released on bail pending further investigation. If found guilty, they face a maximum penalty of a fine of HK$5 million, or $640,000, and up to 14 years in prison.

Such incidents are, unfortunately, a notable blow to the reputation of Bitcoin and altcoins. Although cryptocurrencies have become much more popular around the world in the past year – as BTC is now even considered official tender in El Salvador – many people still believe that crypto brings more harm than good.


We believe that over the long term, this development is unlikely to have a major impact on the popularity of digital assets - especially as an investment. In this case, though, crypto is just a tool that fell into the wrong hands. So, the specifics of digital assets are not to be blamed.


What do you think about it? Share your opinion in our Millionaire Crypto Chat. There we will talk about other topics related to the world of decentralisation and blockchain.