The US Treasury Department has launched one of the largest campaigns in its history against cryptocurrency-related financial crimes, targeting Chinese businessman Chen Zhi and his Cambodia-based company, Prince Group.
The measures included the confiscation of more than 127,000 bitcoins, valued at approximately $15 billion, after the company was designated a transnational criminal organization.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), in collaboration with the UK Foreign Office, revealed that Prince Group operated a vast network of cyber fraud known as “pig slaughter.”
These frauds relied on creating fake relationships with victims to persuade them to invest in fake projects before seizing their money.
Authorities also accuse the company of involvement in serious crimes, including human trafficking, forced labor, and sexual exploitation within so-called “fraud complexes” in Cambodia.
Investigations revealed that the group laundered its illicit funds through the real estate, banking, and crypto mining sectors, using front companies such as Warp Data Technology in Laos to transfer digital assets to wallets controlled by Chen Zhi networks.
This US operation highlights the authorities’ ability to confiscate crypto, despite its decentralized nature, simply by gaining access to the private keys or associated accounts.
While disrupting the Bitcoin network itself remains impossible, human and institutional vulnerabilities remain the weakest link in the digital financial system.
This record seizure is expected to intensify US scrutiny of crypto flows linked to fraud, money laundering, and human trafficking, and will increase pressure on exchanges and financial institutions in Asia to tighten controls on suspicious transactions.
