In July 2024, the blockchain analytics firm
Elliptic linked Huione Guarantee to the sale of stolen data and
money laundering services used to conduct illegal activities, such as the so-called
pig butchering scam. In March 2025, the
National Bank of Cambodia revoked Huione Pay's banking license. FinCEN reported that Huione Group laundered over US$4 billion in illegal funds from August 2021 to January 2025, including US$37 million from North Korean cyber heists and US$36 million from fraud scams. Shortly after,
Telegram deleted thousands of channels used by Huione Guarantee and banned several accounts that had operated the marketplace. It has grown to become the largest criminal marketplace of all time, with transactions totalling more than $27 billion. In April 2026, Huione's former chairman Li Xiong was extradited to China to face money laundering charges. Chinese authorities described Huione as a subsidiary of
Prince Group and Li as a key member of Prince founder
Chen Zhi's "criminal gang". ==References==