Gambling-related USDT funds grow as 1k new online gambling websites use Tether

Deposits and withdrawals of USDT among gambling websites through crypto payment platforms are on the rise, according to a report from Wu Blockchain, authored by Bitrace.

A  study of 20 active online gambling sites revealed that there have been over 5 million USDT new deposits and other related addresses in 2022 with 161 new USDT payment platforms.

The data for these 20 gambling platforms show a total outflow of 4.2 billion USDT between 2021 and 2022. $780 million USDT was deposited into 60,000 exchange addresses, representing 18.57% of all outflows from online gambling.

The remaining funds were distributed across 310,000 individual addresses. The funds were then transferred across the blockchain network via address transfers, on-chain lending, anonymous transactions, and cross-chain transfers, thus contaminating more crypto addresses.

1,031 new online gambling platforms will be using USDT in 2022, according to the report.

Leading the list of contaminated addresses in China

More than 53% of the “contaminated” addresses are Chinese. The Chinese central bank announced that all cryptocurrency transactions, mining, and trading were illegal in 2021. This, therefore, prohibits the provision of any form of online gambling business to its citizens. 

However, some online gambling institutions are set up outside of China and allow gamblers to use USDT to avoid law enforcement agencies’ tracking of money movements. In addition, the report stated that the USDT that entered online gambling pools is “contaminated” and spreads through withdrawals, impacting normal users’ addresses.

To curb money laundering through virtual currency transactions and other methods, the National People’s Congress passed the Anti-Telecommunication Network Fraud Law that came into effect on December 1, 2022.

As China steps up its opposition to crypto-related illicit activities, Hunan Province authorities have recently arrested 63 people for allegedly laundering $1.7 billion with cryptocurrency obtained from gambling.