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The United Kingdom has initiated formal proceedings to dissolve two London-registered companies after uncovering evidence that they facilitated approximately $1 billion in transactions for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Authorities found that the firms operated as a coordinated enterprise, moving digital assets through the TRON blockchain while deliberately bypassing international anti-money laundering controls. This case highlights growing concerns over the mi

A federal judge in New York has dismissed a major lawsuit seeking to hold the cryptocurrency exchange Binance responsible for allegedly enabling the financing of dozens of terrorist attacks around the world, marking a significant development in the evolving legal framework surrounding digital assets and national security. The decision, issued on March 6, 2026, by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, addressed claims brought by 535 victims an

South Korea has formally moved to enforce a strict 20 percent ownership ceiling for digital asset exchanges, a policy change that will significantly reshape a market where leading platforms such as Bithumb and Gopax have historically been dominated by single controlling shareholders holding stakes well above 60 percent. The sweeping reform, led by the Financial Services Commission, is intended to dismantle concentrated ownership structures that have long complicated transpare

Economic analysts and international regulatory authorities have uncovered an enormous web of illicit financial activity totaling approximately $350 billion, tied to systematic sanctions evasion and transnational criminal enterprises. This hidden financial infrastructure increasingly relies on digital assets to circumvent the oversight mechanisms embedded in the traditional banking system, enabling hostile governments and organized crime networks to transfer large amounts of m

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has renewed its warning that stablecoins are increasingly being used as a primary tool for illicit finance, stating that “stablecoins are the most popular virtual asset used in illicit transactions,” including by actors in Iran and North Korea. In a 42-page report released Tuesday, the global anti-money laundering watchdog called for tighter oversight of stablecoin issuers as the sector continues to expand rapidly. The warning builds on

The UK Gambling Commission is preparing to examine whether cryptoassets could be introduced as a payment method for licensed gambling operators, marking what officials describe as an exploratory but significant development in the regulator’s approach to innovation and consumer protection.   Speaking at the Betting and Gaming Council’s annual general meeting, Tim Miller, Executive Director of the UK Gambling Commission, confirmed that the regulator will assess how cryptoassets

Italy’s financial police, the Guardia di Finanza, have carried out a sweeping judicial operation against a sophisticated transnational criminal organization accused of orchestrating large-scale financial crimes across Europe. The investigation led to the identification of twenty-three suspects who allegedly laundered approximately 900,000 euros generated through a combination of romance scams and fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes. The principal suspect is now subje

Binance CEO Richard Teng has publicly challenged a report published by The Wall Street Journal that claimed $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency transactions were connected to sanctioned Iranian entities. The exchange asserted that the article contained inaccuracies and misrepresented its compliance practices. In a statement dated February 23, 2026, Binance disclosed that it had sent a formal letter to the publication demanding corrections and a complete retraction. According to th

Payments made using cryptocurrency to groups suspected of running human trafficking operations increased by 85% during 2025, with investigators tracing hundreds of millions of dollars in activity across public blockchain networks, according to new research released by Chainalysis. The U.S.-based blockchain intelligence company reported that the majority of this activity was tied to a rapidly growing criminal infrastructure centered in Southeast Asia, where scam compounds, ill

The European Union is considering a sweeping prohibition on all cryptocurrency transactions involving Russia as part of efforts to restrict Moscow’s ability to use digital assets to bypass existing sanctions, according to a document obtained by FT. The proposed measures would specifically target efforts to prevent sanctioned Russian crypto infrastructure from re-emerging under new guises. Officials are seeking to block "copycat Russian crypto entities spun out of already sanc

United States federal prosecutors have secured a twenty-year prison sentence against Daren Li after his conviction for laundering more than 73 million dollars connected to a vast international cryptocurrency investment fraud operation. Li, a dual national of China and St. Kitts and Nevis, received the maximum penalty allowed by law after admitting to organizing a sophisticated financial structure designed to process criminal proceeds. Despite the sentencing, Li is currently a

Russia’s largest lender, Sberbank, is moving closer to launching loans secured by cryptocurrency and said on Friday that it is ready to work alongside the country’s central bank to help develop the regulatory framework required for such products, according to Reuters. The bank has already carried out an initial test of the model, having issued the country’s first bitcoin-backed loan in January to one of Russia’s largest bitcoin mining firms, IntelionData. Sberbank described t

A dramatic selloff in ether this week turned an aggressively bullish wager into a costly unraveling for Trend Research, a trading firm led by Liquid Capital founder Jack Yi, after ETH prices plunged below the $2,000 mark.   Trend Research had spent months constructing a massive long position in ether valued at roughly $2 billion. The strategy relied on a high-risk “looped” structure: the firm deposited ether as collateral on the DeFi lending protocol Aave, borrowed stablecoin

Law enforcement agencies across Wyoming are raising urgent concerns after residents lost more than $3 million to cryptocurrency ATM scams in 2025 alone. In response, State Representative Ken Clouston is leading a legislative effort to place these automated kiosks under the direct supervision of the Wyoming Division of Banking. The proposal comes amid a sharp national increase in fraud tied to crypto kiosks, with federal data showing losses exceeding $333 million last year. Au

New research from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has identified specialised underground groups linked to Chinese money laundering operations that processed more than $16.1bn in transaction volume during the 2025 calendar year.   According to the findings, these networks handled an average of roughly $44m per day and relied on at least 1,799 active digital wallet addresses to sustain their activity.   Chainalysis said the growth of these organisations has dramatically o

A specialist money launderer who played a central role in supporting fugitive cryptocurrency fraudster Zhimin Qian has been ordered to repay £5,603,305.81 or face an extended prison term. Seng Hok Ling was sentenced to four years and eleven months in November 2025 after admitting involvement in a sophisticated criminal enterprise. On the same day, the primary defendant, Zhimin Qian, received a sentence of eleven years and eight months for her leadership of the conspiracy. The

The Korea Customs Service has successfully dismantled a major criminal network that laundered 148.9 billion won through unauthorized digital asset transfers, authorities confirmed. Investigations revealed that three Chinese nationals orchestrated the elaborate scheme by exploiting domestic bank accounts and international cryptocurrency platforms between September 2021 and June of the previous year. The suspects have been referred to the prosecution for serious violations of t

Cambodian authorities arrested Prince TCO founder Chen Zhi in January 2026 after the United States Department of Justice connected him to what it described as a vast worldwide fraud empire, a dramatic enforcement move that followed an indictment for wire fraud and the laundering of digital assets valued at 15 billion dollars. Investigators have portrayed Chen as the chief strategist behind an enormous criminal enterprise that relied on forced labor to swindle victims across m

Nigeria has embarked on a sweeping overhaul of how digital assets are monitored, embedding national identification numbers directly into crypto systems to strip away the anonymity that once protected bad actors. The push arrives alongside the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025, which compels every virtual-asset transaction to be tied to a verified, real-world identity. By synchronizing its domestic rules with the global crypto-asset reporting framework, the government intend

Indian authorities have successfully brought 49 virtual digital asset service providers into the country’s formal financial reporting system during the ongoing fiscal year, marking a decisive step in tightening oversight of the cryptocurrency sector. This development follows an intensive compliance drive led by the Financial Intelligence Unit, aimed at ensuring that all crypto-related platforms function within the framework of existing transparency and anti–money laundering l