DOJ Seizes Huione Infrastructure Linked to Billions in Crypto Laundering

Authorities in the United States have become increasingly interested in what they call one of the largest criminal markets ever to exist on the Internet.

Department of Justice on Tuesday announced the takeover a computer account used by affiliates of the Huione Group, a Cambodia-based group accused of helping to launder billions of dollars from crypto investment fraud and cyber scams. The account contained “recovery features” for the institutions, prosecutors said, allowing criminals to move and hide money before turning it into untraceable bank accounts.

“Today’s seizure disrupts an increasingly sophisticated criminal market,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Department’s Criminal Division. The story served as “the backbone of the technology that allowed billions in fraud to be transferred, moved, and hidden,” he said, “much of which was stolen through Southeast Asian fraud centers.”

According to court documents, the account facilitated the operation of Huione Guarantee, also known as Haowang Guarantee, a Telegram marketplace where vendors sell credit cards and information, proceeds from malware, and romantic and fraudulent trafficking activities. It also ran escrow services to help criminals, including extortionists, exchange in crypto.

Blockchain researchers have it he explained Huione’s reputation as the largest illegal online marketplace has ever existed, eclipsing dark patriarchs like Silk Road. Telegram he stopped his movements in May 2025, forcing it to close, however instead markets quickly emerged to fill the gap.

The capture takes a year of Huione’s violation. Last October, the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network printed the final order removing Huione from the US financial system as a “high concern for money laundering,” citing his role in the laundering of cryptocurrencies and proceeds from North Korean cyber heists. On Tuesday, FinCEN moved to add that command to the successor, H-Pay Service PLC, to protect the group that is evading the ban.

Crypto related fraud continues to rise. Americans report more than $7.2 billion in losses from crypto currency fraud alone for the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025, part of the $20 billion in Cybercrime earnings last year, with a 26% jump.

The case, investigated by the FBI’s San Francisco office and IRS Criminal Investigation, is part of Operation Riptide, the FBI’s campaign to target Internet fraud. The department appreciates the blockchain analytics companies Chainalysis and Elliptic, together with Google’s cybercrime team, to help.

Huione has proven that he has the ability to reconcile even when pressured by law enforcement officials, to initiate his stablecoinUSDH, and shift work to collaborative platforms as pressure has tightened.