US Treasury Moves to Sever Cambodia's Huione Over North Korean Money Laundering

- Verify the involvement of Huione Group in international criminal organizations' money laundering activities. - An estimated illegal money laundering of over $4 billion. [Unblock Media] The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) under the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently proposed designating Cambodia's Huione Group as a prohibited entity from accessing the U.S. financial system. This proposal is based on confirmation that the Huione Group is deeply involved in money laundering activities for international criminal organizations, including North Korean hackers. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant announced, "The proposed measure is crucial as it will directly block Huione Group's access to interbank transactions, fundamentally weakening its ability to launder illicit profits." This proposal was made under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act, which grants the Treasury Department powerful authority to designate specific foreign financial institutions as "primary money laundering concerns" and impose special measures to protect the U.S. financial system. FinCEN can invoke this authority to require domestic financial institutions to prohibit the opening or maintenance of correspondent or payable-through accounts for Huione and related entities. This is a key measure to block Huione from indirectly using the U.S. banking system. FinCEN's proposal states that for years, Huione systematically laundered illegal proceeds from cyber heist cases performed by the Lazarus Group. Specifically, some of the North Korea-linked funds stolen in major cryptocurrency platform hacking incidents in 2023, including Atomic Wallet, Alphapo, and CoinsPaid, have been identified as laundered through Huione. FinCEN added that Huione has also provided money laundering services for international criminal organizations in Southeast Asia conducting cryptocurrency investment fraud. FinCEN estimates that Huione has laundered over $4 billion in illicit funds, including $37 million stolen from North Korean-directed cyber heists between August 2021 and January 2025. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis visually highlighted the exponential scale of illicit fund flows through Huione's services by sharing a chart on X (formerly Twitter). business sectors include cryptocurrency trading platforms and online payment services, which Secretary Besant noted are "major markets chosen by malicious cyber actors for money laundering." FinCEN explained that this network supports illegal activities by offering a range of services from online marketplaces selling items useful for cyber scams to fiat currency and convertible virtual currency (CVC) payment services, and even newly developed stablecoins used frequently for money laundering. Earlier this year, another blockchain analytics firm, Elliptic, exposed that Huione had launched its own stablecoin to evade traditional regulatory restrictions and asset seizures. The proposed regulation aligns with a recent report issued by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which described Huione's online marketplace Haowang as a "one-stop shop for unlawful cyber actors aiming to execute cyber fraud," emphasizing the inherent risks. The report also expressed concern that regulatory efforts targeting the Cambodian group could be undermined by several emerging competitor entities offering similar services in the region. The public comment period for the proposed regulation will span 30 days following its publication in the Federal Register.