Huione Group, a Cambodia based payment processor linked to the ruling Hun family, has been the center of dramatic illicit crypto activities. The company illicitly moved up to $98 billion worth of crypto flows from such activities as scams, human trafficking, and North Korean hacks. In the timeframe from July 2024 to July 2025, it sent close to half a billion dollars in Tether to Binance and OKX, respectively, but the daily average of this operation reached one million dollars, which was still a significant figure, even though the situation with U.S. sanctions and exchange monitors was in place.

Massive laundering operation

According to the findings of Coin Laundry, an investigative journalism program by the ICIJ, one of the main centers was Huione where most of the cases of the “pig butchering” romance scams, Lazarus Group thefts, and Southeast Asian crime syndicates converged. The flows were continuing even after the Treasury’s decision to blacklist Huione in May 2025; the affiliate Xinbi Guarantee, which moved a significant amount of funds via OKX, was the main channel for such operations.

While Binance handled the guilty party’s money only after the 2023 plea deal, OKX supposedly dealt with post-sanction volumes although it had made compliance promises. One can only imagine how much pain the victims suffered, including U.S. scam targets like Carrissa Weber, who lost millions while recoveries remained at a standstill.

Triggering panic and collapse

The bank run caused by ICIJ reports at the end of November 2025 led to enormous withdrawals from accounts. Huione was forced to suspend payments and block deposits after customers overdrew accounts while rushing to retrieve funds. In the wake of this event, the Central Bank of Cambodia closed the Huione Group payment provider on December 4, citing money laundering risks and the resulting political pressure tied to the Hun regime.

While exchanges such as Binance and OKX stated they supported crime prevention—Binance through high-risk activity blocking and OKX by stopping cooperation with Huione—critics argue there were serious loopholes in real-time monitoring after the Zhao and OKX settlements, as enforcement actions only came afterward.

Broader fallout

This case highlights persistent weaknesses in anti–money laundering (AML) controls within the crypto market, even among the most prominent and highly scrutinized platforms. Regulators are now planning stricter off-ramp policies, while victims may be forced to seek recoveries through frozen assets.