Huione Group strikes back. US authorities are left with nothing
FinCEN tried to shut down a Cambodian company involved in money laundering, but it failed
13.06.2025
738
2 min
0
About a month ago, US authorities reported a successful operation against Huione Group, a Cambodian company found to be involved in laundering illicit funds. GetBlock AML Research explains why US authorities failed to disrupt the company.
What happened to Huione Group
On May 1, the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Division (FinCEN) revoked Huione Group’s access to the US financial system for violating anti-money laundering laws.
According to FinCEN, Huione Group helped launder more than $4 billion between 2021 and 2024. The company processed transactions for scammers using romantic manipulation on dating sites. Huione Group has also been linked to cybercriminals and helped legalize funds that were stolen by the Lazarus Group.
Huione Group subsidiaries Huione Pay, Huione Crypto, and Huione Guarantee conducted large cross-border transactions without AML and KYC compliance.
FinCEN’s primary victory was the removal of Huione Group’s official website and the Telegram channels associated with the organization through which the illegal activities were coordinated.
What now
An analysis of financial flows has shown that the actions of the US authorities have not been able to paralyze the work of Huione Group. Despite the announcement of the shutdown, the company continues to process transactions, the volume of which has noticeably increased.
Huione Group’s daily transaction volumes before and after the FinCEN charges. Chainalysis data
Huione Group continues to operate in three main areas:
- Transfers to prepaid bank cards;
- Conversion of various assets into stablecoins;
- Exchange of cash for cryptocurrency.
Announcement of the reopening of one of Huione Group’s exchangers
Huione Group’s operations show that the organization had a more complex structure, as the actions of the US authorities not only did not disrupt the company’s operations but also advertised it.
Useful material?
Telegram 
Twitter Research
One and the same cryptocurrency address received two completely opposite assessments from different analytics systems: from an ordinary gambling service to an extremely severe criminal offense. This story has become the starting point for a broader conversation about what the scientific standards of blockchain analysis should look like — and why errors in systems like these can shape the fates of real people.
Jul 1, 2026
Research
The blockchain has helped uncover the ties between cryptocurrency fundraising campaigns, exchangers in Syria, and intermediaries in several countries around the world. A telltale pattern has emerged in which the same addresses were used across multiple donation drives at once
Jun 24, 2026
Research
Four Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges accounted for roughly 78% of all digital asset volume tied to the country in 2025. They have now become the focal point of the largest U.S. sanctions campaign against Iran's cryptocurrency infrastructure.
Jun 5, 2026
Research
A financial system is already up and running on public blockchains, with loans, analogues of U.S. Treasuries, and automated capital markets. More than $551 billion has flowed through DeFi protocols — but most of that activity has nothing to do with the real economy and everything to do with the speculative build-up of risk.
May 29, 2026
Research
Around 97% of Chinese suppliers of chemicals used to make fentanyl accept payment in cryptocurrency. The volume of such transactions continues to grow alongside the global market for synthetic drugs
May 22, 2026
Research
For the first time, the new law makes blockchain analytics an officially mandatory tool of financial oversight in the United States. Authorities will also gain the power to restrict transactions with foreign crypto services tied to money-laundering risks.
May 20, 2026
Cryptocurrency rates
-
Bitcoin
$64 733
BTC
+1.22%
-
Ethereum
$2 551.16
ETH
+3.56%
-
BNB Smart Chain
$579.4
BSC
+1.23%
-
Ripple
$1.09
XRP
+0.48%
-
TRON
$0.160134
TRX
-1.59%
-
Dogecoin
$0.072479
DOGE
-0.03%
-
Zcash
$556.63
ZEC
+2.05%
-
Stellar XLM
$0.187087
XLM
+1%
-
Cardano
$0.166918
ADA
-0.62%
-
Polkadot
$3.32
DOT
+5.27%