In the crypto world, I made 7 million. Will withdrawing be seen by the bank as money laundering?” This question has recently sparked heated discussions in various communities. As someone who has been in the cryptocurrency field for many years, experiencing three bank card freezes yet successfully withdrawing funds 17 times as an “old hand”, I am well aware of the risks and tricks involved. The bank's scrutiny of cryptocurrency funds is essentially a “risk level scan”. Once the fund's path resembles characteristics of “dirty money,” a risk control alert will be triggered. Next, I will share my personal experiences and summarized practical insights to help you avoid the numerous traps on the road to withdrawal.
Three Freezing Card Blood and Tears History: Each time was a costly lesson
First Time: The 'Naive Withdrawal' of 2018 In 2017, the price of Bitcoin skyrocketed from $3,000 to $8,000. Watching the numbers in my account continuously grow, I couldn't contain my excitement and withdrew 1.8 million to my Construction Bank account, casually noting it as 'goods payment'. I thought everything was smooth, but soon received a call from the bank. 'Sir, your account suddenly has an additional 1.5 million. Can you explain the source?' The bank staff's inquiry made my heart tighten. I honestly replied, 'Made from trading Bitcoin.' There was silence on the other end, and I was asked to bring my ID and transaction records to the counter for investigation. At the bank counter, I spent a full 2 hours explaining the situation and submitted transaction records and proof of my side business selling mobile phones before I was finally released. However, this experience marked me as a 'high-risk customer', and subsequent fund operations became very cautious.
Second Time: The Nightmare of Exchanging USDT for RMB Having learned from the first experience, I thought I was cautious enough, but I still stumbled in USDT trading. After receiving 350,000 USDT through an OTC platform, I directly transferred it to my Everbright Bank account but overlooked filtering the merchants' qualifications. Just 3 days later, my account was frozen, and the counter informed me that 'the trading counterpart is involved in telecom fraud funds.' To unfreeze my account, I had to submit OTC trading screenshots, blockchain transfer hash values, and sign a (fund legality declaration). The entire unfreezing process took a long week, during which I not only couldn’t use my funds but also endured tremendous psychological pressure. This experience made me deeply realize the significant risks hidden behind USDT trading.
Third Time: Being Too Clever for Your Own Good Learning from the previous two experiences, I devised what seemed like a 'perfect' withdrawal plan: transferring funds over 3 days, 600,000 each time, noting it as 'service fees'. However, after the third transfer, I still triggered the anti-money laundering system. It turned out that although I dispersed the transfers, the funds all came from the same overseas exchange, and I hadn’t informed the bank in advance that 'a large investment income was arriving', which raised the bank's suspicion due to this unusual transaction pattern. This misjudgment made me realize that withdrawals not only require skill but also necessitate prior communication and planning.
From Failure to Success: Five Life-Saving Iron Laws for Withdrawals Iron Law One: Stay Away from USDT, Choose Compliant Withdrawal Channels According to a report by blockchain data analysis company Elliptic in 2024, as much as 23% of USDT transactions involve money laundering and gambling funds, especially small retail investors who are more likely to encounter 'black U', which is also the root of 90% of frozen card incidents. To mitigate risks, I have summarized two alternative solutions: First, only withdraw funds through 'fiat channels', directly exchanging US dollars or euros on compliant platforms like Binance and OKX, and then withdrawing to overseas bank accounts like HSBC in Hong Kong or Cathay Bank in the USA; Second, when selecting OTC merchants, I must choose 'certified merchants' with transaction volumes exceeding 1,000, prioritizing those that support 'direct bank card connection' to reduce the risks brought by intermediate account transfers.
Iron Law Two: 'Cooling Off' and 'Splitting' Double Insurance The 'cooling period' and 'splitting technique' are key to making the bank unable to trace. I adopt a 72-hour cooling rule, allowing the funds to stay in the wallet for 3 days after withdrawing from the exchange to block real-time tracking, then transferring to a compliant platform to exchange for fiat. When transferring, I follow the splitting formula: no more than 150,000 yuan per day per card to avoid crossing the 200,000 yuan large transfer red line; split into 3 to 5 working days for transfer, with each interval greater than 6 hours, noting neutral purposes like 'cross-border e-commerce income' and 'overseas investment returns'. For example, splitting 5 million into 10 transactions of 500,000 each, transferring to 4 bank cards of my spouse and parents, utilizing each person's annual tax-free limit of 200,000 yuan to reduce risk.
Iron Law Three: Offshore Accounts, The Ultimate Security Barrier Offshore accounts are an important means to ensure fund safety. Taking a US dollar account as an example, it not only detaches from the Chinese financial regulatory system, allowing more freedom in fund use, but also enjoys the benefits of dollar appreciation. I once exchanged 3 million USDT for dollars and gained an additional 180,000 due to the depreciation of the yuan after a year. In terms of practical account opening, opening a Hong Kong bank account only requires providing a mainland ID and address proof; after withdrawing dollars from the exchange to my Hong Kong card, if the personal annual limit of $50,000 is insufficient, I can use family member accounts to solve it. When transferring funds back to the mainland, declare it as 'family support funds' and include proof of kinship, with a single transfer not exceeding $100,000, and the bank generally won’t raise objections.
Iron Law Four: Acquire Foreign Trade Companies, Advanced Withdrawal Strategy For investors with larger amounts of funds, acquiring a foreign trade company is a high-level strategy to save on fees. Foreign trade enterprises can apply for 'foreign exchange settlement accounts' based on real trade backgrounds, not subject to the individual $50,000 limit. The specific operation steps are: acquire a foreign trade company that has existed for more than 3 years through platforms like Qichacha, costing around 80,000 to 150,000; open a 'pending review account' at the bank and transfer profits from the crypto world under the name of 'advance payment from overseas clients'; finally, settle RMB based on fictitious trade contracts (matching fund flow), with a fee of only 0.3%, which is 5 times lower than the 1.5% charged by OTC merchants.
Iron Law Five: Proactive Record Keeping, Turning Enemies into Friends Establishing good communication with the bank is an important guarantee for safe withdrawals. When opening a new bank card.