According to the latest data released by Global Ledger, major centralized exchanges have received nearly $1 billion in USDT transfers from Huione-related wallets since the alleged closure of the illegal Huione market.
On May 1, the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) designated Huione as a key anti-money laundering concern under the Patriot Act. Since then, opinions among criminal investigation experts regarding the actual closure of the platform have varied.
In an exclusive research report provided to Cointelegraph, Global Ledger stated that from May 1 to June 17, Huione-related wallets conducted a total of $10.13 billion in USDT transactions on the Tron network and $219 million on Ethereum, ultimately resulting in $942.9 million flowing into centralized exchanges.
Yury Serov, head of investigations at Swiss blockchain analytics firm Global Ledger, told Cointelegraph that the activities of Huione-related wallets indicate that these funds are still being associated with major exchanges through indirect paths.
“Huione-related funds may circulate through Nested Service Providers, OTC desks, or multi-layer trading, thereby obscuring the original source,” Serov said. “While these methods can hide direct interactions with exchanges, the underlying flow patterns of funds ultimately point back to major centralized exchanges, indicating that their operations are still ongoing.”
FinCEN has prohibited U.S. financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent accounts for this controversial corporate group headquartered in Cambodia and registered in Hong Kong.
Huione has been accused of acting as a platform for transnational fraud and money laundering, exploited by cybercrime groups, including the North Korean state-sponsored Lazarus Group and networks engaged in "pig butchering" scams (i.e., property fraud through false emotional relationships). Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic has linked the group's operations to the ruling Hun family in Cambodia.
The group directly operates at least three known subsidiaries:
- Huione Guarantee: An illegal market platform based on Telegram
- Huione Pay: Cryptocurrency and fiat payment services
- Huione Crypto: A centralized exchange
According to FinCEN, Huione Crypto was registered in Poland in mid-2023, but its main operations remain in Cambodia. As of July 8, 2025, Huione Crypto is still listed in the Polish business registry.
Global Ledger states that the entity registered in Poland clearly belongs to the broader Huione group structure, citing reasons such as name, license associations, and wallet activities.
Serov stated, “Based on our analysis, we can confirm that the blockchain infrastructure utilized by the Polish-registered entity operates under the entire Huione group structure, which includes Huione Pay. The flow of funds involving the Polish virtual asset service provider (VASP) cannot be separated from other Huione subsidiaries, as the wallet infrastructure is interconnected.”
Since FinCEN took action, several websites and social channels related to Huione have gone offline but have reappeared with new domain names.
One of the websites, Super-exchange.co, remained accessible as of July 8 and announced that Huione's crypto business and related services would be suspended on June 30, 2025. Despite the announcement, the website continues to operate.
Huione Guarantee is one of the most scrutinized scam-related platforms under the Cambodian corporate group Huione Group. This Chinese-language market operates via Telegram, facilitating transactions of various illegal goods and services, including stolen data and money laundering from scams. It is reportedly the largest dark web market to date, with total transactions exceeding $24 billion.
On May 13, Huione Guarantee (then operating under the name Haowang Guarantee) announced the suspension of operations after being targeted on its Telegram channel. In the same message, the platform directed users to another market called Tudou, in which Huione reportedly holds a 30% stake.
Despite the platform's closure, activities related to Huione services have not fully diminished. New York-based blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis noted in a June report that operational activities related to the Huione market have increased.
However, this view has also been questioned. Elliptic stated that activities related to Huione Guarantee have actually ceased.
“Some researchers confuse Huione Guarantee with other businesses under the Huione group, especially Huione Pay—a large payment enterprise with offline outlets across Cambodia that also accepts cryptocurrency,” Elliptic pointed out.
Elliptic also noted that after the closure of Huione Guarantee, at least 30 new illegal markets have attempted to fill its market void.
The surge of new markets following the closure of Huione Guarantee is strikingly similar to the situation after the downfall of Hydra Market, which once dominated the dark web.
Chainalysis pointed out that although Hydra was shut down in April 2022 due to sanctions from the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), it remained the highest-grossing dark web market that year. Similar to Hydra, the closure of Huione has spurred the rapid rise of successor markets, providing services to users seeking alternative illegal channels.
Criminal activities rarely cease immediately after illegal services are shut down. In many cases, these services reappear under new brands or shift to covert operations.
Garantex is a cryptocurrency exchange linked to Russia that was sanctioned by OFAC alongside Hydra in 2022 and later sanctioned by the EU in 2025. Reports indicate that the platform has been renamed Grinex and continues to assist in fund transfers. As of May 30, blockchain intelligence firm Global Ledger found that at least $1.66 billion had flowed from Grinex-related wallets into centralized exchanges.
Similarly, the KYC-free cryptocurrency exchange service eXch announced its cessation of operations after German authorities seized its servers and crypto assets. However, according to TRM Labs, the service has resumed operations covertly after the public crackdown.
As for Huione, the group appears to remain active through indirect channels. It reportedly holds a 30% stake in the Tudou market, which is now considered the main successor to Huione Guarantee. Wallet activities related to Huione Pay and its cryptocurrency trading services also indicate that the group has not disappeared from the blockchain ecosystem.
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Original article: “Since FinCEN's restrictions, Huione-related wallets have transferred nearly $1 billion to crypto exchanges”
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