Hong Kong, as a world-renowned free port and international financial center, had already developed a thriving crypto economic ecosystem years before official preferential policies were introduced. Virtual asset over-the-counter trading service providers (VAOTC), particularly those operating through offline stores and online groups, were especially distinctive, providing token exchange and deposit/withdrawal services for local and overseas virtual asset investors alongside local and international virtual asset trading service providers (VATP).
However, due to the highly anonymous and borderless characteristics of blockchain-based virtual assets, various cryptocurrencies related to criminal activities—especially stablecoins—can easily flow into Hong Kong's crypto ecosystem, causing fund contamination to local operators' and ordinary investors' business addresses and bringing legal and compliance risks.
This article aims to explore the damage methods of Southeast Asian fraud industries to Hong Kong's crypto economy, starting from a recent money laundering incident involving a mainland university student, and disclose related data.
Event Description
On March 26, 2025, a mainland university student received a part-time job on a second-hand item trading platform, requiring them to go to Hong Kong and purchase a certain amount of USDT through local exchange shops and transfer it to a specified blockchain address. The process involved using a personal bank card to receive RMB, exchanging it for Hong Kong dollar cash at a local currency exchange, then purchasing USDT at a specified crypto exchange shop and having the shop directly transfer it to the designated wallet.
After purchasing USDT worth tens of thousands of RMB, the student's bank card and WeChat Pay were frozen by mainland law enforcement, who informed them that the funds were transferred from victims in an upstream fraud event.
A subsequent investigation by Bitrace and Mancun Law Firm revealed this as a typical "Card-to-U" money laundering method closely related to organized crime networks in Southeast Asia.
Chain Analysis
Analyzing the specified USDT receiving address TTb8Fk revealed that the student purchased 2,396 USDT from a designated exchange shop. These funds subsequently flowed into a guarantor platform merchant address TKN5Vg, which has long-term business associations with Huione Guarantee and Newcoin Guarantee in Southeast Asia.
These two guarantee platforms have long provided services for organized crime industries in Southeast Asia, including illegal online gambling, grey and black industries, money laundering, and fraud. In this incident, they played a role in helping process upstream fraudulent funds.
This indicates a malicious event where Southeast Asian fraud groups used Hong Kong crypto exchange shops to launder funds.
The mode is a common "Crypto-based money laundering" method, where money laundering personnel collect fiat crime proceeds from fraud victims and quickly exchange them for USDT in over-the-counter markets, then transfer back to fraudsters' blockchain addresses while earning commissions. Since purchasing USDT requires multiple bank cards and real-name information, money launderers pre-recruit numerous part-time workers to form a "Crypto Laundering Syndicate", with these part-time workers called "card farmers" or "runners".
In this case, the mainland student unknowingly became a money laundering runner, helping launderers complete fund conversion with Hong Kong VAOTC. The obtained USDT first enters the syndicate address, which deducts commissions (calculated at 33% return rate) before transferring funds to guarantor merchants and ultimately settling through guarantee platforms.
(Translation continues in the same manner for the remaining text)This not only helps maintain the company's own good reputation but is also an important manifestation of the company's fulfillment of social responsibility.
Overall, the upcoming OTC compliance policy in Hong Kong is an important opportunity for the virtual asset over-the-counter trading industry to achieve standardized development. Operators in the industry should firmly grasp this opportunity, actively adapt to changes in the regulatory environment, continuously improve their compliance level, and thereby enhance their competitiveness. Only in this way can they establish an undefeated position in Hong Kong's thriving crypto economy market and achieve long-term stable development.
