As news about the Epstein-related documents continues to emerge, a new report has revealed a substantial increase in cryptocurrency payments to suspected trafficking services. According to Chainalysis, transactions in this area have spiked by 85% globally, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars in 2025. This data not only illustrates a frightening trend in funding exploitation networks but also underscores the true human costs involved.

Trafficking-Linked Crypto Activity

The growth in cryptocurrency-associated trafficking has coincided with a rise in Southeast Asia-centered scam operations, gambling sites, and Chinese-language money laundering networks, frequently operating via Telegram. The transparency offered by blockchain technology aids investigators in tracking these illegal flows, enabling them to identify and target hidden networks.

Chainalysis tracked four main categories of suspected crypto-driven trafficking: Telegram-based “international escort” services linked to trafficking, labor agents involved in kidnappings and forced labor, prostitution operations, and vendors of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Patterns in payment behavior vary by category, with escort services and prostitution networks heavily utilizing stablecoins for better price stability, while CSAM vendors have traditionally relied on Bitcoin, though this preference is starting to shift.

In the case of escort services, many are found within large-scale laundering networks that convert stablecoins for local currencies swiftly. Approximately 49% of transactions for these services exceed $10,000, indicating organized crime at a significant scale.

Conversely, prostitution networks generally engage in transactions within the $1,000-$10,000 bracket, showcasing identifiable patterns that can help in detection.

CSAM Crypto Economy

Activities linked to CSAM show a different trend, where about half of the transactions are below $100. A subscription model is becoming more popular, allowing for consistent revenue streams. By 2025, there has been a noticeable increase in the use of Monero and instant exchanges for laundering CSAM profits, along with a merging of CSAM networks and communities involved in online extremism, where abuse materials generate cryptocurrency revenue.

The report also points out that operators often utilize U.S.-based infrastructure for legitimacy while remaining overseas to minimize exposure.