Our weekly roundup of news from Asia curates the industry’s most important developments.
Dirty Tether laundry service
A Chinese court in the northwestern Gansu province has reportedly sentenced ten individuals involved in a Tether (USDT) laundering service scheme.
The defendants received prison sentences ranging from 10 months to one year, with authorities recovering over $168,000 (1.2 million yuan) in illicit gains, according to state-owned online news outlet The Paper.
The scheme, led by a man identified as Shen, operated a USDT trading studio that laundered crypto profits tied to online gambling and telecom scams.
China’s Tether trading studio turns out to be a crypto laundromat. (Bianca Jordan)
It is alleged that Shen and his accomplices were aware that the cryptocurrency came from illegal activities. They profited by converting the illicit crypto into fiat currency at high exchange rates.
According to court documents cited by The Paper, Shen set up the operation in early 2022, recruiting several associates to help run the illegal cryptocurrency transactions. Together, they rented properties and equipped them with the necessary tools — computers, software, and devices — to carry out the laundering business.
They then formed a trading group on Telegram, a popular messaging platform, where they conducted over-the-counter (OTC) deals in USDT — purchasing USDT at a discount from criminals involved in telecom fraud and selling it at a higher rate to other customers.
The court found that the group earned over $124,000 (880,000 yuan) through these operations. However, their laundering business is estimated to have facilitated the theft of over $834,000 (5.9 million yuan) from victims.
The case is a reminder of China’s continued hard stance toward crypto.
Despite recent rumors suggesting China might lift its ban on crypto trading in the fourth quarter of 2024, Chinese authorities have…
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