Huione Group Moves $10.2 Billion Despite U.S. Money Laundering Flag

Despite being flagged by U.S. regulators as a top money laundering concern, wallets tied to the controversial Huione Group continued moving hundreds of millions of dollars through major crypto exchanges. According to new research from a blockchain analytics firm, from May 1 to June 17, wallets linked to Huione handled over $10 billion worth of Tether’s USDT on Tron and another $219 million on Ethereum. Of that, nearly $943 million ended up on centralized exchanges (CEXs).

This activity comes just weeks after the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) named Huione a “primary money laundering concern” under the PATRIOT Act. The designation was supposed to shut the door on U.S. financial institutions doing business with the group, which is registered in Poland but operates largely out of Cambodia. Yet, Huione-linked funds are still finding their way into major exchanges, even if the route is a bit more roundabout.

One twist was that while FinCEN targeted Huione’s operations in Cambodia, the group also has a registered crypto exchange in Poland. According to corporate records, Huione Crypto is still active on the Polish business register, despite claims of a wind-down. The Poland entity is not some rogue spin-off but clearly part of the same broader operation. The wallet infrastructure is deeply intertwined. You can’t separate the Polish VASP from the rest of the group.

FinCEN’s original designation cited Huione’s links to a sprawling network of illicit services, including Telegram-based dark markets and payments platforms suspected of helping groups like North Korea’s Lazarus launder funds. One such platform—Huione Guarantee—was believed to be one of the largest darknet-style operations ever, with over $24 billion in activity before it said it would shut down in May. Some Huione-linked sites and channels have gone dark, but others simply resurfaced under new names. For instance, a site called Super-exchange.co displays a notice that crypto services were “suspended” as of June 30. In practice, though, the site remains operational.

Meanwhile, Huione Guarantee quietly handed off users to a spinoff marketplace called Tudou, where Huione reportedly owns a 30% stake. Transaction volumes around Huione’s ecosystem remained active even after FinCEN’s designation. The continued activity of Huione-linked wallets raises questions about the effectiveness of regulatory actions in shutting down illicit financial activities. The group's ability to rebrand and continue operations under new domains and through indirect channels highlights the challenges faced by regulators in combating money laundering and fraud in the crypto space.

The shutdown of Huione Guarantee, one of the most closely watched scam-enabling platforms, has not resulted in a uniform decline in activity around Huione-linked services. While some analysts claim that Huione Guarantee's activity has ceased, others observe increased activity connected to Huione's marketplace operations. This discrepancy underscores the complexity of tracking and monitoring illicit financial activities in the crypto ecosystem.

The proliferation of new marketplaces following Huione Guarantee's collapse mirrors what occurred after the fall of Hydra Market, once the dominant darknet platform. The takedown of an illicit service rarely results in an immediate halt to criminal activity. In many cases, services reemerge under new branding or continue in stealth mode, as seen with Garantex and eXch. In Huione's case, the group appears to remain active through indirect channels. It reportedly holds a 30% stake in Tudou, now considered the leading successor to the Huione Guarantee marketplace. Wallet activity linked to Huione Pay and its crypto exchange services also shows that the group has not disappeared from the blockchain landscape. This continued activity underscores the need for ongoing vigilance and enhanced regulatory measures to combat illicit financial activities in the crypto space.