Crypto moves in minutes; the law takes months

African law enforcement agencies are facing a growing speed gap in the fight against crypto-enabled financial crime, with illicit funds able to move across borders within minutes while traditional legal and investigative processes can take months.

As crypto adoption grows across the region, banks, fintechs, crypto exchanges and other financial institutions are being urged to employ real-time fraud and mule detection systems that can flag and intercept suspicious transactions before victims lose money, rather than trying to trace funds after they are gone.

This is according to Philip Adiamah, regional manager for Africa at Chainalysis, a blockchain data platform, speaking to ITWeb Africa about the growing sophistication and geographic spread of organised fraud networks.

Adiamah said: "The biggest weaknesses are speed and interoperability. Crypto moves in minutes; mutual legal assistance requests can take months.”

The problem extends beyond individual scams, with organised criminal groups increasingly operating across multiple jurisdictions and using shared financial infrastructure to move proceeds from different types of crime.