Bitrace recently commented on Chinese virtual currency crimes. As of August 2023, the China Judgment Documents Network has logged 3,084 virtual currency crimes. The cases comprise 680 instances in 11 categories. Out of these registered cases, Casino-related infractions account for 22.05%. Secondly, Pyramid schemes were 20.56% prevalent in the sample making them a notable fraud category. Note that the remaining groups made up roughly 95% of the instances.
USDT Dominance in Online Gaming Increases Casino-Linked Cryptocurrency Crimes
The rising usage of USDT, a stablecoin crypto, in online gaming activities is causing several casino-related issues. It works like this: gambling sites integrate crypto payment options to simplify financial transactions.
This setup allows many people to participate in illegal activities. This phenomena comprises casino operators, domestic casino agents, payment systems like Sifang that allow casino fund transactions, and cryptocurrency merchants like CEX who provide gambler-specific services.
The increased adoption and integration of USDT (Tether) into online gaming platforms has led to virtual currency-related crimes in casinos. Integration occurs when gaming sites use cryptocurrency payment methods to encourage gamers to collect “scoring points”.
Southeast Asian Gamblers Spent 37 Billion USDT in 2022, Bitrace Data Reveals
In court practice, numerous entities may be implicated in casino-related crimes. Gaming operators, domestic gaming agents, the Sifang payment platform, and currency merchants or CEX outlets that allow gamblers are included. Hunan 1121 Xingchu No. 125 in 2022 is an example of the “Zhao XX Criminal First Instance Criminal Judgment for Opening Casinos and Gambling.” The defendant was convicted for intentionally enabling fund payment and settlement services using USDT, a digital currency. The defendant used customer service systems and bank transfers for these actions.
Bitrace’s latest research shows that Southeast Asia used 37 billion USDT for gaming in 2022. approximately a year, Southeast Asian gambling organizations reintegrated approximately 7.7 billion USDT into several centralized trading platforms.