The Coin Laundry exposes how cryptocurrency companies have empowered a shadow economy that lavishly profits from crime.
Led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The Coin Laundry is a groundbreaking cross-border investigation that reveals how many of these companies make money off the proceeds of scams, theft and other crimes — while those who’ve lost their savings or livelihoods are left with little hope of justice.
Over 10 months of reporting, ICIJ and 37 media partners in 35 countries gathered hundreds of cryptocurrency wallet addresses — analogous to bank account numbers — linked to known illicit activity. Journalists collected them from scam victims, police reports, court records, sanctions lists, complaints filed with Seychelles’ financial regulator and from test transactions with crypto services, among other sources.