As revelations related to Epstein have emerged, new data shows that crypto payments to suspected trafficking services increased by 85% globally in 2025.
As global attention remains focused on the release and continued scrutiny of emails and documents linked to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, attention has turned to how exploitation networks operate and move money.
Against this backdrop, a new report from Chainalysis revealed that cryptocurrency flows to services suspected of being linked to human trafficking increased sharply in 2025. Transaction volumes reached hundreds of millions of dollars, up 85% year-on-year. Although the figures quantify financial activity, the report emphasizes that the true cost of these crimes is borne by the victims and not the balance sheets.
Traffic-related crypto activity
The increase in crypto-related trafficking activities has occurred alongside the expansion of Southeast Asia-based fraud complexes, online gambling operations, and Chinese-language money laundering and collateralization networks, many of which operate openly on Telegram and form a closely connected illicit ecosystem with a global reach.
Unlike cash-based systems, blockchain’s transparency helps investigators trace these flows, creating opportunities to identify and disrupt networks that would otherwise remain hidden. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has tracked four main categories of suspected cryptocurrency-facilitated trafficking: Telegram-based “international escort” services suspected of human trafficking; “work placement” agents linked to kidnapping and forced labor in fraudulent complexes; prostitution networks; and sellers of child pornography (CSAM).
Payment behavior differs between categories. “International escort” services and prostitution rings rely almost entirely on stablecoins because they prioritize price stability and ease of conversion, but CSAM providers have historically favored Bitcoin. However, its dominance is diminishing as alternative layer 1 networks and privacy tools emerge.
Escort services have been found to be deeply integrated into Chinese-language money laundering networks that quickly convert stablecoins to local currencies and reduce exposure to asset freezes by centralized issuers. Analysis of transaction size indicates professionalized operations as almost 49% of “international escort” service transfers exceed $10,000, which is consistent with organized businesses operating on a large scale.
Meanwhile, prostitution rings cluster between $1,000 and $10,000. These networks often use structured pricing and customer service models, advertising standardized rates across major East Asian cities, which in turn produce identifiable on-chain patterns useful for detection.
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CSAM Crypto Economics
CSAM operations reveal a different structure. It was found that around half of transactions are less than $100 and there is a shift towards subscription-based models that generate predictable revenue streams. In 2025, Chainalysis observed increasing use of Monero and instant exchangers to launder CSAM proceeds, in addition to an emerging overlap between CSAM networks and sadistic extremist communities online, where abusive material is monetized via cryptocurrency payments.
A major CSAM site identified in July 2025 alone has used over 5,800 crypto addresses and generated over $530,000 since 2022. The report also states that traffic-related services leverage US-based infrastructure for scalability and legitimacy, while operators often stay overseas to limit personal exposure.
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