OKX is cracking down on gambling-linked crypto deposits, founder and CEO Star Xu said. Deposits from high-risk addresses can now trigger anti-money laundering (AML) reviews lasting 15 days or longer.

During that window, account functions and funds may be restricted. OKX will cut off users entirely if their activity is confirmed illicit, Xu added.

AML Review Targets Gambling-Linked Channels

Xu made the comment on X earlier Wednesday. He was responding to a user question about how OKX handles betting platforms that send funds directly into exchange wallets.

Xu flagged transactions tied to “guaranteed” escrow services run through Telegram groups, along with a network he called Huiwang. Huiwang is the pinyin name for Huione Guarantee. The Telegram marketplace processed more than $27 billion in transactions before regulators moved against it in 2025.

Successor platforms, including Tudou Guarantee, have since absorbed much of that volume, according to reports on Chinese-language laundering networks.

“Funds obtained through channels including but not limited to guaranteed transactions in TG groups, Huiwang and its variants, etc., may carry higher source-of-funds risks.”

– Star Xu,

OKX flagged wallets tied to the Huione Guarantee marketplace for compliance checks last year, after US authorities moved against it.

It said at the time it could freeze funds or deactivate accounts confirmed to be linked to the network. The US Treasury’s FinCEN cut the network off from the US financial system in October 2025.

Part of a Wider Compliance Push

The crackdown follows a CertiK finding that AML enforcement now outranks securities cases as crypto’s top regulatory risk. OKX itself paid more than $500 million in AML-related penalties in the United States last year.

Xu has also acknowledged that a small share of legitimate users get flagged by the platform’s fraud checks. OKX faced public backlash in July 2025 after users reported accounts frozen over false fraud flags.

Whether the new 15-day review window curbs illicit inflows without snagging more legitimate depositors will soon become clear.

Source: BeInCrypto