Your IP:
·
Your ISP:
·
Your Status:

Ruling Family-Affiliated Largest Illicit Marketplace Huione Expands Its Crypto Imperium

The biggest illicit marketplaces

Huione Guarantee, a go-to marketplace for online fraudsters in Southeast Asia, is expanding its "business" by launching multiple crypto-related products, researchers found.

Blockchain analysis company Elliptic claims that the Telegram-based marketplace, which is said to be part of Huione Group, a Cambodian conglomerate with links to the country’s ruling Hun family, has now launched its own messaging app, crypto exchange, blockchain, and a US dollar-pegged stablecoin, USDH.

According to the researchers, this makes the marketplace less dependent on third parties such as Telegram and popular stablecoins, including tether (USDT).

For example, Huione Guarantee promotes its USDH stablecoin as it "is not restricted by traditional regulatory agencies" and "users' assets will not be frozen at will." As reported by LEAKD, in the second half of 2024, more than $127 million worth of USDT was frozen due to suspected illicit activities.

For now, USDH has been issued on the Ethereum, BSC, and Tron blockchains, as well as Huione’s own recently launched blockchain, Huione Chain (also known as Xone Chain). Moreover, the fraudsters tried to raise money by selling Huione Chain’s native token, HC.

Additionally, Huione Group is said to have launched its own crypto wallet software and a decentralized exchange (DEX), Huione Crypto, allowing USDH to be swapped for other cryptoassets.

Elliptic found that almost $6 billion in crypto has flowed through a Telegram bot used primarily for online gambling on Huione Guarantee.

"Initial analysis of bets placed through the platform indicates that much of this may constitute money laundering," they said, comparing the platform to another darknet market, Hydra, which received around $5 billion in cryptoassets during its six-year existence.

Vendors on Huione Guarantee offer illicit goods and services, including laundering the proceeds of scams such as the so-called pig butchering scheme.

Meanwhile, according to Elliptic, Huione Group has attempted to distance itself from the marketplace, however, Huione Guarantee confirmed that Huione Group remains its “strategic partner and shareholder”.

Leave a Comment
open
chevron-triple-rightaccount-circle