In May 2026, Caixin revealed shocking details of bribery, leading to the downfall of Chongqing’s former mayor Hu Henghua and others, uncovering the country’s first ministerial-level cryptocurrency money laundering case! High-ranking officials + cold wallets + $300M USDT: The collapse of Chongqing’s “politics-business-law-finance triangle”! No longer cash or famous paintings, but 30.8 million USDT. Cold wallets became the “secret vault” for power-money transactions. The power players (Hu, Luo) accepted crypto; the financiers (Lin family from San’an Optoelectronics) provided funds and managed cold wallet distribution; the legal players (“red-top lawyer” Peng Jing) used law firm accounts for money laundering, pocketing a $10M USDT commission. Staggering amounts: Total case value exceeds ¥300M RMB, a true “Web3-era exposé of official corruption.” When high-ranking officials start studying private key management, and lawyers turn into money laundering masterminds, this “hidden hunt” ultimately couldn’t escape the regulators’ meticulous investigation.