Federal prosecutors in the U.S. state of Texas charged 21 U.S. citizens with allegedly helping various multinational criminal groups launder money using cryptocurrencies, which prosecutors say each played a key role in international fraud and criminal operations role as domestic money launderers acting as their foreign accomplices, at least four of whom have pleaded guilty. Dubbed Operation Crypto Runner, the multi-year investigation by the Department of Justice, the U.S. Secret Service and the East Texas Branch of the Postal Inspection Service has uncovered more than $300 million USD's annual money laundering transaction, with millions of dollars in cash and cryptocurrency seized and confiscated, and thousands of victims identified.