The U.S. Department of Justice has dealt a devastating blow to the infrastructure of the "crypto laundering" Huione Group.
The U.S. Department of Justice reported the seizure of a cloud account that served as a key infrastructure element for Huione Group entities. This account supported services specializing in the transfer and laundering of funds obtained from cryptocurrency fraud and other criminal activities.
According to the department, the seized account was critically important for the functioning of an entire network of platforms and channels involved in illegal financial operations. The investigation established that the Huione Group ecosystem provided services to organizers of investment scams, cryptocurrency thefts, trading of personal data, and other forms of cybercrime. In particular, related Telegram channels actively advertised money laundering services, the sale of stolen data, and support for fraudulent call centers.
One of the Largest Centers of Crypto Crime
Huione Group has long been under close scrutiny by U.S. regulators. In 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department's FinCEN designated the company as a "primary money laundering concern," effectively cutting it off from the U.S. financial system. According to the agency's estimates, from August 2021 to January 2025, at least $4 billion in illegal funds passed through the group's structures. This amount included money from cryptocurrency scams, cyberattacks by North Korean hackers, and other criminal schemes. The ecosystem included the payment service Huione Pay, the cryptocurrency platform Huione Crypto, and the marketplace Haowang Guarantee, which analysts called the largest illegal online platform for servicing crypto scammers.
Pressure on Scammers' Infrastructure Intensifies
The seizure of server infrastructure is the latest step in a large-scale U.S. campaign against financial services that support transnational fraud networks in Southeast Asia. The Justice Department emphasized that the goal of the operation is not only to prosecute individual criminals but also to completely destroy the infrastructure that supports the entire crypto scam ecosystem. For context, in 2025, over $154 billion was sent to illegal crypto wallets—a 162% increase compared to 2024, according to a Chainalysis report.
My comment: This move by U.S. authorities sends a powerful signal to the entire market. The liquidation of Huione Group's cloud infrastructure not only paralyzes the operations of one of the largest "crypto laundries" but also demonstrates that regulators are moving from targeted arrests to the systematic destruction of the technological chains that underpin crypto crime. In the long term, this could seriously hinder money laundering for organized groups.