How Ryan Wedding is using cryptocurrency to launder the profits of his alleged multi-billion-dollar drug empire

CTV’s Kamil Karamali has the latest on the former Olympian Ryan Wedding being accused of running a drug trafficking ring and ordering dozens of murders.

As the search continues for Ryan Wedding, the Canadian former Olympian accused of running an international drug empire, new details are revealing how prosecutors believe he has been keeping his profits off the books.

In a 54-page indictment unsealed last week, the U.S. Department of Justice alleges that Wedding is still conducting his alleged criminal enterprise while on the run from authorities and using cryptocurrency to launder the profits—which total more than US$1 billion a year.

But how exactly is Wedding moving his money and who are the key players who have allegedly helped him in doing so? Here’s everything we know:

Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crypto changing hands

According to the indictment, Wedding and his associates used the cryptocurrency Tether, which is known as a stablecoin that’s tied to the value of the U.S. dollar, to conceal the proceeds of their criminal enterprise.

The court documents show that the group allegedly used a “sophisticated” network of Tether wallets to break down large amounts of money into smaller transfers. They then quickly used intermediary wallets to move the funds to a hub controlled by Wedding.

The DOJ outlined exactly what some of those transactions looked like in a flow chart included in the indictment.

In it, a defendant named Rasheed Pascua Hossain, a 32-year-old Vancouver resident, allegedly sent Wedding more than $200 million worth of Tether between April 29, 2024 and Oct. 5, 2024. It’s unclear what the payments were for.

In another instance, between Aug. 15, 2024 and Sept. 7, 2024, Wedding sent 564,571 Tether to buy 300 kilograms of cocaine from a defendant in Colombia using Victim A—a key witness in the case against Wedding who he allegedly ordered to be murdered—as an intermediary.

The indictment goes on to show how and when the alleged criminal network would continue to send each other massive sums of Tether, often using the crypto exchange platform KuCoin.

Hossain, whose aliases include “~JP Morgan,” is one of three individuals charged in the indictment who allegedly managed and laundered Wedding’s drug proceeds. He was at-large when the indictment was unsealed last week but has since been captured.

• READ MORE: The GTA ‘cocaine_lawyer’ the FBI says advised Ryan Wedding to kill a federal witness

Two other defendants who allegedly assisted in the concealing and laundering of the drug profits include Bianca Canastillo-Madrid, 37, of Mexico City, and Rolan Sokolovski, 37, of Toronto. Canastillo-Madrid is still on the run. Sokolovski, the FBI says, laundered funds through his jewelry business, 2351885 Ontario Inc, which operates under the name “Diamond Tsar” and has a storefront in Toronto.

• RELATED: GTA lawyer, Toronto jewelry business owner among those accused of helping Ryan Wedding’s criminal enterprise

In addition to cryptocurrency, U.S. authorities allege that Wedding’s financiers, who served as de facto banks for the enterprise’s drug proceeds, used investments in high-value items, like luxury cars, watches, and jewelry, to obfuscate the source of the funds.

What is Tether?

Tether was introduced in 2014 and is considered by many in the crypto space to be the “grandaddy” of stablecoins, according to technology analyst and journalist Carmi Levy.

“It’s designed to see the benefits of cryptocurrency—encryption, transactions on the blockchain—but at the same it has greater stability,” he said.

Levy explained that unlike some cryptocurrencies, which can sometimes drastically fluctuate in value, Tether’s value is tied to the U.S. dollar and can be a less risky option, for legitimate and illegitimate purposes, when moving large sums of money.

“Some prefer to use it because it avoids some of the risks associated with conventional cryptocurrencies and allows you to spread those risks across more platforms,” Levy said.

Are stablecoins legitimate?

As revelations about Wedding’s alleged criminal use of stablecoin come to light, governments on both sides of the U.S. border are taking steps to make that form of cryptocurrency more mainstream.

In July, President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act to create a regulatory regime for stablecoins like Tether, which lays the groundwork for the cryptocurrency to one day become a more common way to send and receive money.

• IN PICTURES: Ryan Wedding—From Canadian Olympian to alleged drug lord

Similarly, the Canadian federal government introduced the Stablecoin Act in its budget earlier this month. The measure, among other things, sets out rules for those who sell stablecoins and requires the Bank of Canada to maintain a public registry of stablecoin issuers.

“So essentially, what they’re doing is they’re legalizing stablecoin as a viable currency and they’re providing rules for stakeholders around what is and is not legal,” Levy explained.

Why are criminals using cryptocurrency to launder their profits?

Wedding isn’t the first alleged criminal to use cryptocurrency to conceal the profits of drug trafficking, and likely won’t be the last.

“I’m not at all surprised to see criminals using cryptocurrencies, and their related technologies like blockchain, to cover their tracks and stay below the radar of law enforcement,” Levy said.

Levy explained that once there was a mainstream awareness of cryptocurrency in the early 2010s, criminals also took notice and recognized the advantages of the somewhat anonymous nature of the digital currency.

“The larger the numbers, the greater the business case for cryptocurrency becomes. We know that moving large amounts of cash around triggers alerts when using conventional banking methods. But that is not the case with cryptocurrencies. Criminals have become fairly adept at using these technologies and tools and processes to stay as low profile as possible and thus evade detection and capture.”

He said that while the use of blockchain technology means all transactions are technically traceable, the use of crypto wallets and addresses instead of actual names, as is the case in Wedding’s alleged money laundering efforts, makes it more difficult to connect the transactions to real people.

How are U.S. authorities responding?

While Wedding remains at-large, the U.S. Department of the Treasury says it has sanctioned him, effectively cutting him off from the U.S. and the international financial system.

“Most importantly, U.S. and international businesses are now on notice: Should you choose to assist Wedding by materially supporting him and his network, we will find you, cut you off from the U.S. financial system, and help our DOJ partners bring you to justice as well,” John Hurley, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the Department of Treasury, said last Wednesday.

Nine other individuals and nine entities closely associated with Wedding were also sanctioned, including his lawyer Deepak Paradkar. Not all of the individuals who were sanctioned were charged criminally.

Where is Ryan Wedding now?

Authorities have increased the reward for information leading to Wedding’s arrest from US$10 to $15 million.

They believe the 44-year-old former Olympic snowboarder is currently in Mexico and is being protected by the Sinaloa Cartel.

Wedding was first identified as the alleged ringleader of the international drug empire in 2024. U.S. authorities have linked him to multiple murders, including four in Ontario, in furtherance of his criminal enterprise.

Officials have said that Wedding still has access to a “network of hitmen” and will continue to order murders to avoid being caught.