2026-01-19 19:38:23

South Korea's authorities have successfully taken down a sophisticated international cryptocurrency laundering operation. The bust targeted a criminal network that had funneled approximately $101.7 million through various payment channels, exploiting WeChat Pay and Alipay among others. What made this scheme particularly cunning was how operators disguised the fund transfers—routing money as tuition payments and medical expenses to mask the illicit origins. Law enforcement's dismantling of this cross-border ring underscores the ongoing challenges in tracking crypto transactions, especially when they're layered with traditional payment systems and cover stories.

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CantAffordPancake

· 8h ago

Haha, Korea has also started strict investigations. It seems that the on-chain money laundering tricks are indeed no longer working. --- Transferring under the guise of tuition or medical expenses—this move is truly clever... No wonder it took so long to be discovered. --- Over 100 million USD, this is a significant amount. But it still got caught red-handed. --- The key is mixing cryptocurrencies with traditional payments, which greatly increases tracking costs. --- WeChat and Alipay have both been compromised. We really need to be on alert. --- This is exactly why countries are now promoting CBDC. Ultimately, it's about maintaining firm control over the payment channels. --- 101.7 billion, as soon as I saw this number, I knew it was definitely a dead end. --- In simple terms, seamless integration of fiat and blockchain is the most covert method. Unfortunately, it was still caught.

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GasGasGasBro

· 8h ago

Wow, over 100 million just got taken like that? And you still have the nerve to call yourself sophisticated, but in the end, you got caught completely.

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Blockchainiac

· 8h ago

Oh my god, over a hundred million dollars just gone like that. Pretending to be tuition and medical expenses is really ruthless.

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RumbleValidator

· 8h ago

1.7 billion dollars just disappeared, indicating that on-chain tracking efficiency is far below expectations. 2. Fiat on/off ramps are the key; pure on-chain verification can't prevent this kind of hybrid attack at all. 3. Centralized payment as an intermediary layer, decentralization is pointless—this is the harsh reality. 4. No matter how stable the nodes are, the money has already been cleaned and integrated into the fiat system; the problem lies off-chain. 5. It's pitiful; no matter how perfect the technical validation, we must accept the current situation—cross-chain tracking credibility is still zero. 6. Why not just use smart contracts to freeze assets directly? The reason is simple: all power is in the hands of intermediaries. 7. This operation shows one thing: consensus mechanisms are useless against real-world crimes. 8. 101.7 million is enough to hire a national-level money laundering team; it's too inefficient. 9. The more validation nodes there are, the more problems arise because no one manages off-chain matters. 10. Therefore, the higher the degree of decentralization, the greater the legal loopholes—this is the real Achilles' heel.

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