U.S. Treasury seeks to block Huione Group over North Korea laundering ties
By: cryptosheadlines|2025/05/02 18:45:01
0
Share
Airdrop Is Live CaryptosHeadlines Media Has Launched Its Native Token CHT. Airdrop Is Live For Everyone, Claim Instant 5000 CHT Tokens Worth Of $50 USDT. Join the Airdrop at the official website, CryptosHeadlinesToken.com The U.S. Department of the Treasury has proposed a federal rule to sever the Cambodia-based Huione Group’s access to the U.S. financial system, citing the company’s alleged involvement in laundering billions of dollars linked to North Korean cybercrime and online fraud schemes.According to the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Huione and its affiliates have facilitated significant illicit transactions since August 2021. These transactions are connected to online romance and investment scams.The proposed action will make it more difficult for cybercriminals such as Lazarus Group to launder their illicit profits. Notably, a 30-day public comment period must be completed before the proposed rule becomes operative.Huione Group becomes a preferred marketplace for criminals to conduct money laundering operationsU.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement on May 1 that malicious cybercriminals such as Lazarus Group had stolen billions of dollars from regular Americans and that Huione Group has become their preferred marketplace.These remarks followed investigations that the Huione Group had established a network of companies, including the cryptocurrency exchange Huione Crypto, the payment service platform Huione Pay PLC, and the online marketplace Haowang Guarantee, which sold illegal goods and services.Moreover, FinCEN revealed that from August 2021 to January 2025, Huione Group allegedly laundered at least $4 billion in illicit proceeds, including over $36 million from cryptocurrency pig slaughtering schemes. According to the Treasury, at least $37 million worth of the cryptocurrency that was laundered was connected to North Korea’s “cyber heists.”One notable case involved the laundering of $35 million from the $305 million hack of Japan’s DMM Bitcoin exchange through Huione Guarantee, a subsidiary of Huione Group.Victims of these scams have suffered significant financial losses. Beth Hyland, one of the pig butchering victims, said she had been the victim of a Tinder scammer in 2024 who kept “manipulating and gaslighting” her until she sent over a significant amount through Bitcoin ATMs.“We started chatting and hit it off right away. We were going to meet. He said he was a freelance manager for a construction company,” Hyland recalled, explaining how the Nigeria-based con artist kept claiming he was locked out of his bank accounts and was hard up for funds to pay his workers.The Treasury said that Haowang Guarantee had turned Huione Group into a “one-stop shop” for criminals to launder cryptocurrency they had acquired through illegal means and then exchange it for fiat currency.Furthermore, Huione Pay, a company based in Phnom Penh, was reported to have received more than $150,000 in cryptocurrency last year from a wallet belonging to North Korea’s notorious Lazarus hacking group, which was suspected of stealing billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency over the years, most likely to finance domestic projects.According to Bessent, today’s proposed action will sever Huione Group’s access to correspondent banking, degrading these groups’ ability to launder their ill-gotten gains. Treasury remains committed to disrupting malicious cyber actors’ attempts to secure revenue from or for their criminal schemes.The Huione Group gets into trouble for its cryptocurrency laundering activitiesThe conglomerate had also developed the U.S. Dollar Huione (USDH), a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin FinCEN claimed was unfrozen and aided in money laundering.Consequently, payment companies were prohibited from dealing with or trading digital assets in Cambodia, according to the National Bank of Cambodia, revoking the company’s local banking license in March.In addition, concerning the U.S. Treasury Department’s suggestion to cut off the Cambodia-based Huione Group from the U.S. financial system, the FinCEN attempted to use Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act, which gave it nuclear option power, to make this possible.In its rulemaking submission, the Treasury’s FinCEN pointed out that while the conglomerate did not have correspondent accounts with U.S. financial institutions, it did have accounts with foreign companies with U.S. correspondent accounts.The Treasury’s action against Huione is part of a broader effort to combat North Korea’s use of cybercrime and digital asset theft to fund its weapons programs. In December 2024, the U.S. sanctioned two Chinese nationals and a UAE-based company for facilitating money laundering operations that funneled illicit proceeds back to Pyongyang.Cryptopolitan Academy: Want to grow your money in 2025? Learn how to do it with DeFi in our upcoming webclass. Save Your SpotSource link
You may also like

Pantera Capital Partner: The Financial Trajectory of AI Agents
AI agents will move towards fully autonomous commerce, and blockchain is the only digital-native financial track that meets its needs for identity, micropayments, and trustless execution.

In the next 5 years, Vitalik will scale Ethereum like this
Short-Term vs Long-Term, Execution, Data vs State

Sam Altman and the End of the World Capitalism
The real danger is never AI itself, but those who believe they have the right to define the human destiny.

Wall Street Rings Inflation Alarm Bells Amid Iran Tensions, What Does It Mean for Cryptocurrency?
Interest rates have remained stubbornly high, posing a challenge to the cryptocurrency bull case.

Qwen Open Source Model Enters Mobile, Nasdaq Tests Water Prediction Market, What's the Overseas Crypto Community Talking About Today?
What Was the Hottest Topic Among Expats in the Last 24 Hours?

MegaETH Co-founder: 48 Hours After Escaping Dubai, I Reassess the Entire Crypto Scene
The global environment is not favorable to us, but in the long run, it may be favorable to us.

Morning Report | Strategy increased its holdings by 3,015 bitcoins last week; BitMine increased its holdings by 50,928 ETH last week; Vitalik elaborated on the Ethereum execution layer roadmap
March 2 Market Key Events Overview

Why is it said that there are structural opportunities in encrypted AI?
When centralized AI falls into the dilemma of regulation and trust, Crypto + AI will become a structural escape route for safeguarding data and sovereignty in a multipolar world.

Make Probability an Asset: A Forward-Looking Perspective on Predictive Market Agents
The predictive market agents are expected to present early prototypes in early 2026, likely becoming an emerging product form in the field of agents in the following year.

Consumer application issues
The truly outstanding applications will not ask people to "use cryptocurrency," but will provide practical and better solutions to the problems that people already face.

Arthur Hayes: The flames of war in the Middle East rise, Bitcoin is bullish
War is often accompanied by monetary easing, which may also become an important backdrop for driving up risk assets like Bitcoin.

Legendary investor Naval: In the AI era, traditional software engineers have no value?
You can always find a perfect niche that fits you and become a leader in that field.

More absurd than knowing about the war in advance is knowing in advance about the assassination of Soleimani
The temptation of a million dollars cannot be stopped by the calamity of prison.

Key Market Insights on March 2nd, how much did you miss?
1. On-chain Funds: $96.8M Inflow to Base This Week; $234.9M Outflow from Arbitrum
2. Largest Price Swings: $SYND, $TCY
3. Top News: Anthropic Tops Global AI Product Ranking after Pentagon Rejection, Celebrities Boycott Its Competitor OpenAI

How to systematically track high-performing addresses on Polymarket?
Why can everyone see the data but not catch the "Whale Wallet"?

From Stanford Lab to Silicon Valley Streets: How OpenMind is Solving the "Last Mile" Problem of the Machine Economy?
The robotics industry is also facing issues similar to the "shanzhai era": fragmented systems, closed ecosystems, and lack of interoperability.

PlanX: Reconstructing On-Chain Execution with AI, Moving Towards a New Paradigm
Reconstructing on-chain execution with AI, moving towards a new paradigm of decentralized finance.

US Judge Allows Binance Unregistered Token Lawsuit to Advance
Key Takeaways: A federal judge in Manhattan dismissed Binance’s petition to resolve a securities lawsuit through private arbitration,…
Pantera Capital Partner: The Financial Trajectory of AI Agents
AI agents will move towards fully autonomous commerce, and blockchain is the only digital-native financial track that meets its needs for identity, micropayments, and trustless execution.
In the next 5 years, Vitalik will scale Ethereum like this
Short-Term vs Long-Term, Execution, Data vs State
Sam Altman and the End of the World Capitalism
The real danger is never AI itself, but those who believe they have the right to define the human destiny.
Wall Street Rings Inflation Alarm Bells Amid Iran Tensions, What Does It Mean for Cryptocurrency?
Interest rates have remained stubbornly high, posing a challenge to the cryptocurrency bull case.
Qwen Open Source Model Enters Mobile, Nasdaq Tests Water Prediction Market, What's the Overseas Crypto Community Talking About Today?
What Was the Hottest Topic Among Expats in the Last 24 Hours?
MegaETH Co-founder: 48 Hours After Escaping Dubai, I Reassess the Entire Crypto Scene
The global environment is not favorable to us, but in the long run, it may be favorable to us.