PHNOM PENH, Oct. 15 -- When the United States and the United Kingdom jointly imposed sanctions on a Cambodian-led network accused of trafficking, scamming, and laundering billions through Bitcoin, it marked a turning point in how we must now understand war, crime, and technology. The case, involving the seizure of more than US$15 billion (RM63 million) worth of Bitcoin, exposed how Southeast Asia's digital fringes have become a theatre of financial and psychological warfare - a battleground without borders, soldiers, or uniforms.

What began as a story of forced labour and online fraud in Cambodia's Sihanoukville has morphed into something far more sinister: a demonstration that the same algorithms designed to decentralise wealth can dest...