WIRED（于 2026 年 2 月 12 日发表）引述的 Chainalysis 研究指出，加密货币正愈来愈多被用于买卖用于诈骗园区与商业性交易的贩运受害者；以保守估计，2025 年的相关活动「几乎翻倍」。报告将规模扩张归因于低摩擦的跨境支付，并称这些交易常在 Telegram 上公开进行，包括在类似托管的「担保」市场中，例如 Xinbi Guarantee 与（近期已停运的）Tudou Guarantee，以及另有宣传卖淫的独立频道。

Chainalysis 透过追踪与已识别的贩运广告及执法线索相关的链上资金流，估计 2025 年以加密货币资助的人口贩运交易年增至少 85%，目前每年总额至少达「数亿美元」（因漏算风险未提供精确数字）。付款被描述为「几乎全部」使用与美元挂钩的稳定币，如 Tether 与 USDC；所得款项常透过规模达数十亿美元、以 Telegram 为基础的担保市场循环回流，用于出金与洗钱。报告称缅甸、柬埔寨与寮国的诈骗园区行动每年产生「数百亿美元」收入并困住「数十万」名被强迫劳动者，但 Chainalysis 表示其观测到、可衡量的加密货币成长多来自性贩运。就所检视的典型卖淫网路而言，62% 的交易金额介于 $1,000 至 $10,000；而在跨国性贩运行动中，近 50% 超过 $10,000，与「有组织」的行动管理「数百」名受害者的情况一致。

报告亦强调，将一名劳工送进诈骗园区的招募赏金，每人介于 $8,888 到 $22,000；并引述吹哨者描述的条件，如没收护照，以及以暴力强制的 15- 到 16-小时轮班。就执法与平台责任而言，Tether 表示其与 330 个执法机构合作、涵盖 2,000+ 件案件，已冻结约 $4 billion 并为追偿与补偿重新发行近 $1 billion，并主张公开区块链相较于现金更具可追踪性；Telegram 表示其禁止贩运内容并每天移除「数百万」有害项目，并提到先前清剿后市场往往会重组或改名，其中一个市场将部分业务转移到 SafeW。Chainalysis 与合作伙伴也提到加密货币用于 CSAM：约 50% 的交易低于 $100；即使市场愈来愈多使用 Monero 来洗钱，这些付款仍常以 Bitcoin 进行；一个英国非营利组织表示其在 5 years 内看到稳定上升，让跨境调查更为复杂。（本文于美东时间 2026 年 2 月 12 日上午 9:16 更新，以补充一则 Tether 回应。）

Chainalysis research described by WIRED (published February 12, 2026) says cryptocurrency is increasingly used to buy and sell trafficking victims for scam compounds and commercial sex, with activity in 2025 “nearly doubled” by a conservative estimate. The report attributes scale-up to low-friction cross-border payments and says these deals often occur openly on Telegram, including on escrow-style “guarantee” markets such as Xinbi Guarantee and the (recently defunct) Tudou Guarantee, plus separate channels advertising prostitution.

Tracing on-chain flows tied to identified trafficking ads and law-enforcement leads, Chainalysis estimates crypto-funded human-trafficking transactions grew at least 85% year over year in 2025 and now total at least “hundreds of millions of dollars” annually (without an exact figure due to undercount risk). Payments are described as “almost entirely” in US-dollar-pegged stablecoins like Tether and USDC, with proceeds often cycling back through multibillion-dollar Telegram-based guarantee markets used for cash-out and laundering; scam-compound operations across Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos are described as generating “tens of billions of dollars” in annual revenue and trapping “hundreds of thousands” of forced workers, though Chainalysis says most measurable crypto-growth it saw came from sex trafficking. For typical prostitution networks examined, 62% of transactions were $1,000 to $10,000, while for international sex-trafficking operations nearly 50% exceeded $10,000, consistent with “organized” operations managing “hundreds” of victims.

The report also highlights recruitment bounties for delivering a worker to a scam compound, ranging from $8,888 to $22,000 per person, alongside conditions described by a whistleblower such as passport confiscation and 15- to 16-hour shifts enforced with violence. On enforcement and platform responsibility, Tether says it works with 330 law-enforcement agencies across 2,000+ cases, has frozen about $4 billion and reissued nearly $1 billion for recovery and restitution, and argues public blockchains add traceability versus cash; Telegram says it bans trafficking content and removes “millions” of harmful items daily, citing prior purges that saw markets later reconstitute or rebrand, and one market shifting some operations to SafeW. Chainalysis and partners also note crypto use for CSAM: about 50% of transactions are under $100; these payments are still often in Bitcoin even as markets increasingly use Monero to launder proceeds, and a UK nonprofit says it has seen a steady uptick over 5 years, complicating cross-border investigations. (Article updated 9:16 am ET, February 12, 2026, to add a Tether comment.)