Walrus blob · mainnet
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rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.04)"><h1 class="title" style="margin:0">Illegal Crypto Mining ‘Powerful Tool’ for Cybercrime Syndicates: UN Report</h1><h2 style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:1em">Crypto is helping to fuel transnational organized crime, according to a new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.</h2><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center;justify-content:space-between"><p style="font-size:14px;margin:5px 0px">By <span><a href="/author/vismayav"><span class="sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml">Vismaya V</span></a></span></p><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center"><p style="font-size:14px;margin:5px 0px">4 min read</p><div style="height:4px;width:4px;background-color:#333;border-radius:50%;margin:0 11px"></div><p style="font-size:14px;margin:5px 0px"><span class="whitespace-nowrap"><time datetime="2025-04-21T14:19:37Z">Apr 21, 2025</time><time hidden datetime="2025-04-21T14:19:37Z" style="display:none">Apr 21, 2025</time></span></p></div></div><div style="position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;width:100%;margin:30px 0px"><amp-img style="border-radius:3px" class="cover i-amphtml-layout-fill i-amphtml-layout-size-defined" src="https://cdn.decrypt.co/resize/1024/height/512/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/crypto-mining-gID_7.jpg" layout="fill" i-amphtml-layout="fill"></amp-img></div><div style="display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><amp-ad width="320" height="50" type="doubleclick" data-slot="/22724166089/decrypt_amp_articles_inline" json="{"targeting":{"pubg_did":["2k/utr-cnd"]}}" rtc-config="{"vendors": { "aps": {"PUB_ID": "600", "PUB_UUID": "1ce5cb1e-d0d8-4aca-84a6-5a0f9f8af593", "PARAMS":{"amp":"1"}} }}" class="i-amphtml-layout-fixed i-amphtml-layout-size-defined" style="width:320px;height:50px;" i-amphtml-layout="fixed"></amp-ad></div><div style="word-break:break-word"><p>The United Nations has sounded the alarm on a new phase of global organized crime, where crypto mines hum in militia-run factories, stablecoins help wash billions, and Telegram hosts black markets.</p>
<p>A new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reveals that transnational criminal groups from East and Southeast Asia are rapidly expanding their operations worldwide, using illegal <a href="/">crypto mining</a> as a “powerful tool” to launder billions in illicit proceeds.</p>
<p>The report titled “<a href="https://www.unodc.org/roseap/uploads/documents/Publications/2025/Inflection_Point_2025.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow external noopener" class="sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml">Inflection Point: Global Implications of Scam Centres, Underground Banking and Illicit Online Marketplaces in Southeast Asia</a>,” documents how these syndicates are embedding themselves in regions with weak oversight, from Zambia and Nigeria to Tonga and the Middle East.</p>
<p>The groups are diversifying beyond scams and trafficking, building full-fledged online ecosystems that incorporate unlicensed <a href="/">crypto exchanges</a>, encrypted messaging tools, and <a href="/">stablecoins</a>, to power an industrial-scale fraud economy, the report’s authors said.</p>
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<p>“We are seeing a global expansion of East and Southeast Asian organized crime groups,” Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC Acting Regional Representative, said in an accompanying <a href="https://www.unodc.org/roseap/en/2025/04/cyberfraud-mekong-inflection-point/story.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow external noopener" class="sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml">statement</a>.</p>
<p>“It spreads like a cancer," Hoffman added. "Authorities treat it in one area, but the roots never disappear—they simply migrate.”</p>
<p>The report pointed to Huione Guarantee, recently rebranded Haowang, as one of the central hubs in this underground economy.</p>
<p>With over 970,000 users and $24 billion in crypto flows since 2021, the Cambodia-based platform has reportedly become a one-stop shop for laundering tools, fake identities, and scam services, many now offered on Telegram as enforcement pressure grows.</p>
<p>The platform has also launched its own stablecoin, <a href="/">blockchain</a>, crypto exchange, and online gambling products, designed to “circumvent government controls,” the report's authors said.</p>
<p>“The convergence between the acceleration and professionalization of these operations on the one hand and their geographical expansion into new parts of the region and beyond on the other translates into a new intensity in the industry — one that governments need to be prepared to respond to,” Hofmann said.</p>
<p>Some Huione vendors now target jurisdictions like Nigeria, Namibia, and Angola, showing the platform’s widening global footprint.</p>
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<h2>Off-grid crypto mining</h2>
<p>Crypto mining is especially valuable to these groups because it largely avoids anti-money-laundering oversight, says the UNDOC.</p>
<p>By stealing electricity and operating off-grid, gangs can generate seemingly clean digital assets at minimal cost and with little traceability.</p>
<p>In regions like Libya, where electricity costs are among the lowest in the world, these operations have even caused city-wide blackouts, according to Libyan officials cited in the report.</p>
<p>The recent findings build on warnings first outlined in a 2024 UNODC report, which highlighted the increasing convergence of crypto, cybercrime, and AI in Southeast Asia.</p>
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<p>That report warned that organized crime groups were “<a href="https://decrypt.co/285129/southeast-asia-crypto-crimes-un" target="_blank" class="sc-On-chain registration not yet visible.
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