Hunan researchers propose judicial reforms to tackle virtual-currency money laundering

Researchers from the Yuhu District People's Procuratorate of Xiangtan, Hunan, and Xiangtan University have proposed a broader set of legal and enforcement reforms aimed at strengthening China's handling of virtual-currency money laundering cases. A July 13 theory article in Procuratorial Daily said the authors identified hurdles in offense classification, evidence collection and asset recovery, and suggested prosecutors rely more systematically on blockchain analysis and dual investigations into both predicate crimes and laundering conduct. The article also proposed that courts be allowed to infer criminal intent, unless suspects provide reasonable rebuttal, when they use mixers or privacy coins, dispose of large crypto holdings at obviously unreasonable prices, or conduct frequent large transfers through anonymous wallets unconnected to their identities. It further argued that publicly verifiable on-chain records with matching hash values should be treated as presumptively genuine, while reports from compliant blockchain analytics firms should be admissible as expert evidence. On seized assets, the authors called for a national platform to custody and dispose of confiscated virtual currencies through compliant channels such as directed auctions, alongside valuation standards tied to on-chain data and global exchange prices and stronger cross-border cooperation to trace offshore funds. The proposals have no legal force, but they offer a window into thinking inside China's prosecution system as the country continues to confront large-scale crypto-linked laundering despite its 2021 ban on crypto trading and mining. The article said Chinese prosecutors charged more than 3,000 people in crypto-related laundering cases in 2024, while Chainalysis estimated Chinese-language laundering networks processed about $16 billion in 2025, roughly one-fifth of the global total.