Blockchain security must localize to stop Asia’s crypto crime wave

Without localized risk detection and public–private cooperation, illicit capital will continue to flow unchecked, and trust in the system will collapse.

Opinion by: Slava Demchuk, co-founder and CEO of AMLBot

Asia’s cryptoverse has lost more than 1.5 billion in the first half of 2025 — more than during 2024, including Bybit and pig butchering scams in Southeast Asia. Most engines are built around typologies of Western money laundering. They miss custom laundering channels tailored to each region, which are popping up across Asia.

Blockchain analytics firms must build customized regional risk libraries and collaborate with local law enforcement to combat the level and caliber of cryptocurrency-enabled crime in Asia. Failure to address this means criminal funds will still be able to lurk in plain sight and subvert the very integrity of global compliance systems.

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