Taylor Monahan, a member of the security team for MetaMask, has raised concerns about alleged money laundering activities linked to human-trafficking scam compounds. According to Monahan, over one year, 144 OKX accounts received 263,000 deposits totaling $2.94 billion—equivalent to about 700 transactions and $8 million daily. These allegations were made on the social media platform X.

"263,000 deposits," said Monahan. "$2,940,000,000 dollars. Thats 700 txns / $8 million dollars EVERY DAY. Whatever you think you know abt OKX helping human-trafficking international scam compounds launder their money, it's so much worse."

According to the UN Human Rights Office, human-trafficking "scam compounds" in Southeast Asia have coerced hundreds of thousands into online fraud operations, including romance-investment and cryptocurrency schemes. Reports highlight detention, abuse, and cross-border criminal networks that exploit victims' labor to defraud individuals globally. Authorities are reportedly working on coordinated crackdowns as these operations often use rapid cryptocurrency payments and laundering channels to move proceeds internationally, complicating enforcement efforts.

A sworn affidavit filed in federal court describes how U.S. Secret Service investigators traced cryptocurrency flows linked to confidence scams to numerous "Initial Deposit Addresses." Of approximately 434 suspected victims identified, agents reached out to 60 people—nearly all confirmed being scammed—and discovered 42 additional victim reports in the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Sentinel. The filing further details how 144 OKX accounts accessed via Philippines-based IP addresses were tied to iCloud emails constructed from random letters plus the user's phone number, indicating a coordinated laundering infrastructure across multiple accounts and services.

Monahan is recognized as a veteran Ethereum wallet builder and security advocate. She co-founded MyEtherWallet and later founded MyCrypto before joining ConsenSys through acquisition to enhance the MetaMask product family. Her focus includes user safety, self-custody best practices, and early warnings about evolving attack vectors such as phishing and malware.

OKX is a prominent global cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 firm that operates spot and derivatives markets alongside an on-chain wallet. Its operator, Aux Cayes FinTech Co., pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court on February 24, 2025, to anti-money-laundering violations related to allowing U.S. trading and processing criminal proceeds. The court imposed nearly $505 million in fines and forfeiture while mandating an external compliance consultant through February 2027. Prosecutors indicated that more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions passed through the platform from 2018 to early 2024.