The number of crypto payments for human trafficking transactions surged in 2025, according to new report by the blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
The report shows that crypto flows to suspected human trafficking groups reached hundreds of millions of dollars over a period of one year, marking an increase of 85%.
“The dollar amounts significantly understate the human toll of these crimes, where the true cost is measured in lives impacted rather than money transferred.”
The firm says cryptocurrency-facilitated human trafficking exploded alongside the growth of Southeast Asian scam compounds, online casinos and gambling sites as well as Chinese-language money laundering (CMLN) and guarantee networks operating on the messaging platform Telegram.
Payment methods vary across different categories of human trafficking. International escort services and prostitution networks prefer stablecoins, which suggests that the entities involved prioritize payment stability and ease of conversation over the risks of the crypto assets getting frozen by centralized issuers.
Meanwhile, child sexual abuse material (CSAM) vendors have shifted away from Bitcoin (BTC) with the emergence of alternative layer-1 blockchains.
Chainlysis says the increasing sophistication of these illicit networks require comprehensive monitoring that leverages blockchain analysis, traditional anti-trafficking efforts and public education.
“As these networks continue to evolve, the transparency of blockchain technology provides unprecedented opportunities for detection, disruption, and enforcement that would be impossible with traditional payment methods.”
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