As a recent report by blockchain data firm Chainalysis points out, the ties between crypto and suspected human trafficking intensified during 2025, with transaction volume reaching hundreds of millions of dollars, an 85% increase over the prior year.

“The dollar amounts significantly understate the human toll of these crimes, where the true cost is measured in lives impacted rather than money transferred,” the company wrote on its blog.

Chainalysis notes that this surge of crypto funds into suspected human trafficking services is not happening in a vacuum, but is closely tied with the rise of Southeast Asia-based scam compounds,…