Chinese companies selling synthetic opioid chemicals raked in $27M in crypto payments Chinese companies selling synthetic opioid chemicals raked in $27M in crypto payments
Blockchain analysis firm Elliptic reveals millions in crypto payments to Chinese chemical providers and a staggering 450% increase in transaction volume year-on-year.
2 min read
Updated: May. 23, 2023 at 11:40 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Blockchain analysis firm Elliptic said May 23 that several Chinese companies selling precursors to the synthetic opioid fentanyl have received millions in cryptocurrency.
Elliptic reported that its researchers interacted with over 90 companies in China that offered to sell fentanyl precursors.
According to the analytics company, 90% of those companies accepted cryptocurrency payments, while 17 companies were willing to supply fentanyl itself.
Wallets received vast quantities of crypto
Elliptic determined that the cryptocurrency wallets owned by the chemical providers have received more than $27 million in crypto. This amount could afford the purchase of enough fentanyl precursors to create pills with a street value of $54 billion, it said.
The chemical providers received payments over thousands of transactions, Elliptic said. It also noted that the number of transactions to those wallets increased 450% year-on-year and said that one fentanyl trafficker paid tens of thousands of dollars.
Suppliers largely accepted Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT), Elliptic reported. The analysis by Elliptic indicates that payments sent to addresses of precursor suppliers have seen a year-over-year increase of 450%.
Among the addresses shared by precursor suppliers that were analyzed by Elliptic, payments in Bitcoin (BTC) totaled 66% of total transactions, Tether (USDT) payments on the Tron blockchain accounted for 21% and USDT payments on the Ethereum blockchain accounted for 13% of total transactions. Other cryptocurrencies only accounted for 1% of the total transactions.
Elliptic noted that some businesses provided other chemicals, many of which can be used to create other synthetic opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamine.
The analytics company has informed exchanges of the illegal activity and has flagged the cryptocurrency addresses involved in the sales.
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Author 
Mike Dalton
Before transitioning to crypto writing in 2018, Mike studied library and information sciences. Currently, he resides on Canada's West Coast.
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Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that defies the sway of central banks or administrators, transacts electronically, circumventing intermediaries via a peer-to-peer network.
Tether
$1.00113
Launched in 2014, Tether is a blockchain-enabled platform designed to facilitate the use of fiat currencies in a digital manner.
Ethereum
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Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that enables the creation of smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps).
Elliptic
Elliptic empowers financial institutions and crypto businesses to confidently manage risk and meet AML regulatory compliance worldwide.