- Cambodian bank Huione Pay loses its banking license for its involvement in illicit activities.
- The activities involved were the sale of stolen data, torture devices, and money laundering.
- Based on initial reports, Apple and Google removed Huione’s crypto app in January 2025.
Huione Group, a Cambodian conglomerate based in Phnom Penh, offers a range of products including payment platforms, insurance, and a cryptocurrency app. However, its Telegram marketplace, Huione Guarantee, has been identified as a significant hub for illicit commerce. According to a report by Radio Free Asia, the banking firm has been stripped of its banking license, as confirmed by the National Bank of Cambodia.
A report by Elliptic, a London-based crypto compliance firm, found that Huione Guarantee facilitated $24 billion in transactions since 2021, which is linked to activities like money laundering, the sale of stolen data, and torture devices. The United Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has described Huione’s marketplace as one of the main components for outlawed activities. The regulatory crackdown on Huione Group began with actions against its digital presence.
On January 14, sources reported that both Apple and Google removed Huione’s cryptocurrency app from the Play Store and Apple Store after the initial reporting on the company. Despite this, Huione Pay continued to operate, with posts on its official Telegram channel offering loans in dollars and cryptocurrencies.
Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC’s regional representative, and Tom Robinson from Elliptic supported the license withdrawal as an important step but cautioned that Huione might continue such activities through other means. A former Huione Pay employee provided insider insight, revealing that the company maintained two sets of accounts and ignored the compliance department’s advice, handling billions of dollars with no transaction reviews, indicating internal oversight issues.
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In response to these allegations, Huione Group, under the name HaoWang Guarantee, issued a denial statement on their website on July 17, 2024, claiming that they are only an “information publishing and guarantee trading platform”. They declared that the sale of “detention equipment” constitutes less than 0.01% of transactions and might be for public security. They criticized blockchain analysis companies for not contacting them before publishing reports.
There is a contact email on our official website, which the so-called blockchain analysis company never contacted us to verify the information or asked us to delete the information before publishing the analysis report. Instead, they directly published articles to intentionally attract attention. Initially, after seeing the media report, we deleted this information as soon as possible.
Huione Group’s case underscores the challenges of regulating cryptocurrency platforms, with illicit activities. Despite regulatory actions, such networks’ adaptability highlights ongoing risks in digital crime prevention.
