Stablecoins are playing an increasingly critical role in illegal transactions, accounting for 84% of on-chain illicit trading volume. What does this phenomenon reveal?

Over the past year, on-chain activity worldwide has undergone a significant shift. Professional criminal organizations have already established comprehensive on-chain infrastructure systems for cross-border trade procurement and money laundering. More notably, some institutional participants have begun to utilize these ready-made professional services or even customize dedicated solutions to evade international sanctions. This means that government agencies and compliance teams are facing unprecedented pressure—they must protect the assets of ordinary users while also preventing risks at the national level.

Data highlights the severity of the issue: by 2025, the inflow of funds into illicit addresses will reach $154 billion, a 162% increase compared to the same period last year. Among these, the inflow to restricted entities has surged by an astonishing 694%. These figures indicate that on-chain infrastructure has evolved from small-scale gray-area activities into a global large-scale fund flow system. The high usage rate of stablecoins precisely reflects their convenience in cross-border transfers—low fees, fast transactions, and strong liquidity.

There is a key issue behind this: as the illegal on-chain ecosystem becomes more professional and scaled, the risk control pressures on exchanges, wallets, and other platforms increase. The stronger the liquidity of stablecoins, the more difficult it becomes for regulators to track them. How to balance maintaining market vitality and preventing risks in the future has become a challenge that both the industry and regulators must face directly.