Chinese Prosecutors Propose New Procedures to Tackle Crypto Money Laundering

Overview

• Prosecutors and a law professor published detailed recommendations in the People’s Procuratorate Daily that set out case guidelines, training for investigators, and mandatory “dual investigations” that examine both the supposed predicate offence and related virtual‑currency flows.
• The authors ask courts to treat on‑chain transaction records as self‑authenticating evidence when hashes match and to accept analytics reports from accredited firms subject to judicial review of methods.
• The paper would allow limited inference of criminal intent in specific situations, such as use of coin mixers or privacy coins, rapid offloads at abnormal prices, or frequent high‑value anonymous transfers unless suspects provide reasonable counter‑evidence.
• To solve the seized‑coin problem under China’s ban on crypto trading, the proposal calls for a centralised custody platform, expert valuation standards using on‑chain data and exchange prices, and compliant disposal channels such as designated auctions or negotiated transfers.
• The recommendations also push for stronger cross‑border judicial cooperation and a blockchain‑based cooperation network to verify wallet addresses and freeze orders, and they translate the People’s Bank of China’s enforcement priority into concrete steps that could raise conviction and recovery rates if adopted by top judicial authorities.