Hong Kong police unveil plans for a crypto tracing tool aimed at curbing online financial crime and boosting blockchain-based investigations
The Hong Kong police are intensifying their efforts to safeguard the city’s web3 domain by implementing a new tool to facilitate the monitoring of illicit crypto flows.
On Wednesday, the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of Hong Kong released its recently developed crypto-tracing tool, CryptoTrace, to address the increasing prevalence of crypto-related criminal activity.
The tool, which was initially introduced at the Blockchain Security Summit 2025 and jointly developed with the University of Hong Kong, is intended to offer “advanced intelligence and investigative support” to officers responsible for virtual asset cases, according to the CSTCB.
The bureau stated that it had conducted training sessions in late March to enhance the capacity of frontline officers to investigate crypto crimes using the system.
CSTCB stated that it is collaborating with stakeholders in the web3 sector to “co-build a safer and more sustainable ecosystem” in addition to its crime-fighting objectives without providing further details.
CryptoTrace, which was co-developed by the University of Hong Kong, is purported to employ “state-of-the-art blockchain analytics, graph, and visualization technologies” to assist investigators in identifying suspect locations, tracing laundered funds, and efficiently investigating cryptocurrency schemes.
The initiative is being implemented amid the ongoing increase in crypto crime in Hong Kong. In October 2024, the police announced the apprehension of 27 suspects in a romance scam that was driven by deepfakes and targeted victims throughout Asia. The group is purportedly responsible for defrauding victims of over $46 million in cryptocurrency by employing a phony crypto platform and AI-generated video calls.
From January 2020 to February 2024, romance schemes resulted in more than $75 billion in losses, according to a study conducted by John Griffin, a finance professor at the University of Texas. The majority of the scammers were based in Southeast Asia.
