U.S. authorities on Tuesday moved to dismantle a key piece of the infrastructure that prosecutors say powered one of the largest crypto-enabled criminal ecosystems in history. The Justice Department announced it has seized a cloud computing account used by subsidiaries of the Huione Group, a Cambodia-based conglomerate accused of helping launder billions of dollars from crypto investment frauds and other cyber scams.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva called the seizure “a blow against one of the world’s most prolific criminal marketplaces.” According to the DOJ, the account hosted backend infrastructure that allowed fraud proceeds to be moved, masked, and funneled into the banking system — much of it originating from scam operations in Southeast Asia.
What the account supported
- Huione Guarantee (aka Haowang Guarantee): a Telegram-based marketplace where vendors traded stolen card and identity data, malware proceeds, and laundering services tied to romance and investment scams. The operation also provided escrow services for crypto transactions.
- According to blockchain analysts cited by prosecutors, Huione Guarantee grew to be the largest illicit online marketplace ever, surpassing predecessors like Silk Road. Telegram banned the channels in May 2025, but successor markets quickly appeared.
Enforcement timeline and follow-up steps
- The seizure marks the latest in a year-long campaign of crackdowns on Huione. In October, the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) designated Huione as a “primary money laundering concern,” effectively cutting it off from the U.S. financial system for reportedly laundering crypto proceeds and funds tied to North Korean cyber heists.
- On Tuesday, FinCEN moved to extend that designation to a successor entity, H-Pay Service PLC, aiming to block efforts to evade the ban.
Investigations and collaborators
- The DOJ said the case was investigated by the FBI’s San Francisco field office and IRS Criminal Investigation as part of Operation Riptide, an FBI campaign targeting the infrastructure behind online fraud.
- Investigators credited blockchain analytics firms Chainalysis and Elliptic, along with Google’s cybercrime team, for providing key assistance.
Broader context: crypto fraud on the rise
- Crypto-related investment fraud remains a growing problem: Americans reported more than $7.2 billion in losses to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center from crypto investment fraud in 2025, contributing to over $20 billion in total cybercrime losses that year — a 26% increase.
Huione’s adaptability
- The DOJ noted Huione has repeatedly adapted to enforcement pressure, launching its own stablecoin, USDH, and shifting activity across affiliated platforms to try to remain operational as regulators and law enforcement stepped up actions.
Why this matters for crypto markets
- Seizing a cloud account — described by prosecutors as the operation’s technological backbone — targets the infrastructure that makes large-scale laundering possible, not just individual transactions. It reflects an enforcement strategy focused on disrupting the services and platforms that enable illicit finance, and signals continued U.S. pressure on crypto-enabled laundering networks.
The DOJ’s action is likely to intensify scrutiny of infrastructure-level providers and marketplaces that facilitate illicit crypto flows, while regulators and analytics firms keep pushing to trace and freeze ill-gotten gains.
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