Prosecutors in China have outlined a framework for prosecuting cryptocurrency money laundering that includes presuming criminal intent when suspects use coin mixers or privacy coins without providing reasonable counter-evidence. The proposals appeared in an opinion article published in the Procuratorate Daily, the newspaper of China's Supreme People's Procuratorate, written by two district prosecutors in Hunan province and a university law professor. The framework addresses gaps in current money laundering charges and proposes creating a national platform to hold and sell seized cryptocurrency, tackling a disposal problem created by China's ban on crypto trading. More than 3,000 people were charged with crypto-related money laundering in China in 2024 alone. The proposals come as Chinese-language laundering networks processed an estimated $16 billion in 2025 and handle roughly a fifth of all crypto money laundering worldwide, according to Chainalysis.
Prosecutors Propose Presuming Intent When Mixers or Privacy Coins Are Used
The article proposes that courts presume a suspect intended to launder money when they use tools designed to obscure transactions such as mixers or privacy coins, unless the suspect provides reasonable counter-evidence. The framework also suggests presuming intent when suspects offload large amounts of crypto at obviously unreasonable prices or run high-frequency, large-scale transfers through anonymous wallets with no link to their identity. The authors urge a double investigation of one case rule that would screen every underlying crime for laundering and require investigators to map the flow of any crypto involved. This builds on a 2024 judicial interpretation from China's Supreme People's Court that already treats using virtual-asset transactions to move criminal proceeds as a form of laundering. China's dedicated money-laundering offense covers only seven categories of predicate crime, so prosecutors often fall back on a broader concealment charge to go after crypto cases, the authors note.
On-Chain Records and Analytics Reports Treated as Admissible Evidence
The prosecutors propose a blockchain data self-verification principle where on-chain records that can be checked on a public block explorer, with matching hash values, would be treated as presumptively genuine. The burden would shift onto whoever disputes them. Reports from compliant blockchain analytics firms, such as fund flow maps and address clustering, would count as expert evidence. Laundering could be established from circumstantial, fragmentary evidence as long as it forms a coherent chain, even if not every coin is traced to its source. The article carries no legal force, but articles like it offer a window into the thinking taking shape inside China's prosecution system.
National Platform Proposed to Custody and Sell Seized Cryptocurrency
The article calls for a national platform to custody and dispose of seized crypto through compliant channels like directed auctions. A standing expert committee would value holdings against on-chain data and global exchange prices. The proposal includes cross-border deals plus a blockchain-based judicial cooperation chain to trace and recover assets moved offshore. Because Beijing bans trading, authorities that confiscate tokens have no clean legal way to cash them out, leaving billions of dollars in limbo. In practice, local governments have already been quietly selling seized crypto through private firms in offshore markets, a workaround Reuters documented last year that a formal system would be meant to replace.
Chinese-Language Networks Processed $16 Billion in Laundering Volume
Chinese-language laundering networks processed an estimated $16 billion in 2025 and now handle roughly a fifth of all crypto money laundering worldwide, according to Chainalysis. Chinese police have broken up large rings, including a $1.7 billion laundering operation in 2022. China outlawed crypto trading and mining in 2021, but it remains one of the busiest fronts for crypto-based money laundering. Chainalysis traces the rise of these networks partly to China's own capital controls, as wealthy citizens moving money offshore supply the liquidity that lets the networks launder for Western organized crime groups.
FAQ
What did Chinese prosecutors propose regarding crypto mixer use?
Chinese prosecutors proposed that courts presume criminal intent when suspects use coin mixers or privacy coins without providing reasonable counter-evidence. The framework also suggests presuming intent when suspects offload large amounts of crypto at obviously unreasonable prices or run high-frequency transfers through anonymous wallets.
Why is China proposing a national platform for seized cryptocurrency?
China is proposing a national platform to custody and sell seized cryptocurrency because Beijing's ban on crypto trading leaves authorities with no clean legal way to cash out confiscated tokens, leaving billions of dollars in limbo. The platform would dispose of seized crypto through compliant channels like directed auctions and use a standing expert committee to value holdings.
How much did Chinese-language laundering networks process in 2025?
Chinese-language laundering networks processed an estimated $16 billion in 2025 and now handle roughly a fifth of all crypto money laundering worldwide, according to Chainalysis. More than 3,000 people were charged with crypto-related money laundering in China in 2024 alone.
