Huione Group's Dirty Money Empire Faces U.S. Financial Shutdown

Treasury's Bold Move to Cut Off Cambodian Conglomerate's Access to American Banks

Hold onto your hats, crypto fans! The U.S. Treasury is gunning for Huione Group, the Cambodian powerhouse tied to the world's biggest shady online marketplace. They're threatening to slam the door on the group's access to the American financial system, and it's about to get real!

In a fiery announcement on May 1, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) dropped the hammer, labeling Huione Group as a "primary money laundering concern." They're not messing around, folks - they want to block these guys from touching our banking network with a ten-foot pole!

FinCEN's proposed rule is like a financial chokehold, stopping U.S. banks from opening or keeping any accounts for Huione Group. It's a knockout punch to their dirty dealings!

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is not holding back, saying, "Today's proposed action will sever Huione Group's access to correspondent banking, degrading these groups' ability to launder their ill-gotten gains." You heard it here first, folks - the U.S. is taking a stand!

Now, you might be thinking, "Huione doesn't even bank in the U.S., so what's the big deal?" Well, FinCEN says these crooks have been sneaky, using overseas firms to get their grubby hands on our financial system indirectly. It's like a backdoor into our wallets!

And get this - authorities are spilling the beans that Huione has been the silent partner in some major cybercriminal operations. We're talking about laundering stolen crypto for North Korea's notorious Lazarus Group. These guys are playing with fire!

Brace yourselves, because FinCEN is dropping some serious numbers. They say Huione helped move a mind-blowing $4 billion in dirty money between August 2021 and January 2025. And guess what? A chunk of that cash was linked to online scams like pig butchering. It's a digital Wild West out there!

But wait, there's more! Huione has been building a whole empire of businesses to support their shady operations. We're talking Huione Pay, Huione Crypto, and even a controversial Telegram-based marketplace that just rebranded to Haowang Guarantee. It's like a one-stop shop for cybercriminals!

And hold onto your hats, because FinCEN is also calling out Huione's stablecoin, USDH. This thing is pegged to the U.S. dollar but designed to be unfreezable. They're using it to dodge oversight and funnel dirty money into cash. It's a crypto cloak-and-dagger operation!

FinCEN is laying it all out there, saying, "Because Huione Group claims that USDH cannot be frozen, this service offers Huione Group's clientele a virtually risk-free ecosystem to move or store CVC without the risk of interception or 'freezing' by law enforcement." It's like a get-out-of-jail-free card for cybercriminals!

And just when you thought it couldn't get any crazier, Tether went and froze nearly $30 million in USDT linked to Huione accounts back in July 2024. Talk about a wake-up call! That might be why they launched USDH in the first place.

Now, the proposed rule is out there for 30 days, waiting for public comments before it can go into effect. It's like a ticking time bomb for Huione's dirty money empire!

But hold up, because blockchain forensics firm Elliptic was already sounding the alarm back in July 2024. They called Huione a central hub for Southeast Asian cybercriminals. It's like a digital den of thieves!

Their report spilled the beans on Huione's marketplace, saying it's the biggest of its kind. We're talking thousands of Telegram channels offering laundering services, scam website tools, and even human trafficking-related services. It's a one-stop shop for the darkest corners of the internet!

And get this - the platform's mobile app got the boot from the Google Play Store in January after all the criminal allegations came to light. But guess what? It's still hanging around on the Apple App Store. It's like a cockroach that just won't die!