Hong Kong police are ramping up efforts to secure the cityâs web3 space with a new tool to help track illegal crypto flows.
Hong Kongâs Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau revaled on Wednesday its newly developed crypto tracing tool dubbed CryptoTrace, as part of its efforts to combat growing crypto-related crime.
The tool, jointly developed with the University of Hong Kong and was first announced at the Blockchain Security Summit 2025, is designed to provide âadvanced intelligence and investigative supportâ to officers handling virtual asset cases, CSTCB said. The bureau added it had already held training sessions in late March to improve frontline officersâ ability to investigate crypto crimes using the system.
In addition to its crime-fighting goals, CSTCB said it is working closely with stakeholders across the web3 sector to âco-build a safer and more sustainable ecosystem,â without going into details.
The University of Hong Kong, which co-developed the tool, claims that CryptoTrace uses âcutting-edge blockchain analytics, graph and visualisation technologiesâ to help investigators trace laundered funds, identify suspect locations, and âstreamline probes into scams involving cryptocurrencies.â
The initiative comes as crypto crime continues to rise in Hong Kong. In October 2024, police announced the arrest of 27 suspects in a deepfake-driven romance scam targeting victims across Asia. The group allegedly used AI-generated video calls and a fake crypto platform to defraud victims of over $46 million worth of crypto.
A study led by University of Texas finance professor John Griffin revealed that romance scams caused over $75 billion in losses from January 2020 to February 2024, with many of the scammers operating out of Southeast Asia.