Southeast Asian countries can significantly amplify their anti-scam efforts by compelling crypto exchanges to proactively join the fight. Exchanges are not merely the primary gateways through which scam funds flow — they are also the custodians of valuable on-chain and platform intelligence needed to detect and disrupt those flows.
INTRODUCTION
In 2025, crypto crime in Southeast Asia came to a head, prompting a wave of landmark enforcement actions. The Philippines charged former mayor Alice Guo with 62 counts of money laundering after uncovering her role in one of the largest crypto scam compounds in the Philippines.[1] Cambodian-Chinese national Chen Zhi was indicted for operating a network of forced labour scam…
