Kuaishou, China’s Biggest TikTok Rival, Hit by $20M Bitcoin Embezzlement Scandal

Key Takeaways

• A group of Kuaishou insiders embezzled nearly $20 million, converting it into Bitcoin to obscure the trail.
• The scheme involved OTC desks, mixers, and multi-hop transfers to launder the funds.
• Authorities eventually recovered most of the crypto, and the perpetrators were sentenced to 3–14 years in prison.

Kuaishou, China’s second-largest short video platform and a major rival to TikTok, has found itself at the center of a massive crypto-fueled embezzlement scandal.

Eight of the company’s employees quietly siphoned off nearly 140 million yuan (~$20 million) in corporate funds and funneled it into Bitcoin (BTC) in a complex money-laundering scheme.

The employees used OTC desks, mixing services, and multi-hop wallets to cover their tracks.

However, despite these sophisticated tactics, investigators were able to follow the trail and eventually recovered 92 BTC, worth roughly $11.7 million, through a combination of blockchain analysis and international cooperation.

Digital Crimes, Real Prison Time

At the heart of the operation was a man surnamed Feng, who orchestrated the transfer of internal funds into Bitcoin.

Along with seven accomplices, Feng was convicted of occupational embezzlement and sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to fourteen years.

The case has drawn widespread attention in China, both for its scale and for what it reveals about the growing intersection of white-collar crime and crypto.

According to local media , prosecutors cited the incident as an example of “small officials with big corruption,” leveraging crypto’s pseudonymity to bypass internal controls.

It’s also a reminder that even in a country with strict crypto bans, digital assets continue to pose serious challenges for enforcement and corporate governance alike.

Crypto Crime in a Post-Ban China

Despite China’s sweeping crypto ban in 2021, which outlawed mining, trading, and foreign exchange services, enforcement remains a major challenge.

The Kuaishou scandal is part of a broader pattern: the rise of white-collar crimes leveraging decentralized tech.

According to the Haidian Procuratorate , there were 1,253 commercial corruption cases from 2020 to 2024, with an increasing number involving digital assets like crypto.

The Ministry of Public Security has ramped up efforts to combat crypto-linked laundering, much of it tied to cross-border criminal networks.