Huione Group, the Cambodian business giant that emerged as the largest illegal online marketplace in history, is at the center of one of the largest law enforcement operations against cybercrime. The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) announced the seizure of a cloud computing account used by Huione Group as a technological backbone to move and hide billions of dollars in cryptocurrency fraud. At the same time, the Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on nine individuals and 26 entities associated with the Prince Group.
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According to the DoJ , Huione Group affiliates helped individuals and organizations transfer proceeds from cryptocurrency investment fraud , cyber scams , and other criminal activities via blockchain , allowing illicit funds to be converted into the legitimate banking system without detection. The seized account hosted the backend infrastructure for affiliates such as HuiOne Guarantee (also known as Haowang Guarantee ), which operated as an illegal Telegram -based marketplace with billions of dollars worth of transactions between 2021 and 2025 .
This operation is part of Operation Riptide , an ongoing FBI campaign targeting the cybercrime infrastructure and financial networks behind fraud against American citizens. According to the FBI ’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) , Americans reported losses of more than $7.2 billion from cryptocurrency investment fraud in 2025 alone .
Huione Group: The largest illegal market in history
HuiOne Guarantee sold a wide range of criminal tools and services through Telegram : personal and financial data, money laundering services, website development services for fraudulent investment platforms and phishing websites , as well as software for face swapping , voice cloning , and deepfake -powered scams during video calls with victims. In addition, the platform facilitated the procurement of individuals for human trafficking schemes . An analysis by Elliptic in July 2024 revealed that traders on HuiOne were advertising tear gas, electric batons, and electronic handcuffs for use by fraudster operators who imprisoned and tortured their employees.
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Elliptic has described Huione Group as the largest illicit online marketplace ever recorded . HuiOne Guarantee received transactions in crypto assets worth over $31 billion , while Huione Pay processed $103 billion during its operation — making it 25 times larger than Silk Road and AlphaBay combined. The FBI used Elliptic ’s digital intelligence to trace the proceeds of the fraud to specific cryptocurrency addresses attributed to Huione , allowing for the seizure.
It is worth noting that FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) had already designated Huione Group as a “ primary money laundering concern ” in May 2025 under the USA Patriot Act , due to its role in laundering proceeds from cryptocurrency fraud, North Korean (DPRK) cyberattacks , and other frauds. Now, FinCEN has also assessed H-Pay Service PLC as a primary money laundering concern, to prevent Huione Group ’s efforts to circumvent its exclusion from the US financial system.
Despite HuiOne Guarantee announcing its closure in May 2025 — in part due to Telegram ’s decision to close its channels — new analysis by Flare has revealed that more than 30 marketplaces have emerged to fill the void, with operators building proprietary messaging platforms to circumvent Telegram ’s bans . Flare researcher Chris d’Eon noted that the 2025 law’s sweeping enforcement produced visible adjustment, but did not substantially reduce the overall volume of illicit transactions in the ecosystem.
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To protect organizations from such money laundering networks, experts recommend implementing blockchain , strengthening KYC/KYB to identify high-risk entities, regularly reviewing FinCEN , and working with banking partners to identify untraceable conversions of illicit cryptocurrencies into fiat. According to The Hacker News, the case highlights the critical role of private intelligence companies, such as Elliptic, in enabling government action against transnational cybercrime networks.
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