Cambodian Lender’s Shutdown Triggers Panic Amid Crypto Laundering Scandal
So let me walk you through what’s happening in Cambodia right now, because it has turned into a major financial and crypto-world story. A lender called Huione Pay , which had already been under heavy U.S. sanctions and constant scrutiny from regulators, suddenly froze withdrawals and announced that all business operations would be suspended for more than a month. As soon as that news was out, a wave of panic spread among its users. People rushed to the company’s headquarters, desperate to find out whether their savings were still safe.
This wasn’t entirely unexpected, though. For years, both U.S. regulators and Cambodian authorities had been warning that Huione’s financial network was deeply entangled with illicit activities. It was widely alleged that the company had been used as a major channel for money laundering, crypto scams, and cybercrime-related fund flows. In fact, the U.S. Treasury’s FinCEN had already cut Huione Group off from the U.S. financial system earlier in the year, effectively isolating them from global banking rails. On top of that, Cambodia’s own central bank had revoked Huione Pay’s license, signaling that the company was no longer allowed to operate as a legitimate financial service provider.
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What really pushed this story into the spotlight was the sheer scale of the activity linked to the platform. Investigations by blockchain analytics firm Elliptic found that Huione Pay and its related Telegram marketplace, known as Huione Guarantee , processed nearly $98 billion in illicit crypto transactions before being forced offline. We’re talking about funds tied to online scam networks, crypto thefts, and even laundering operations associated with North Korea. This wasn’t some small fringe operation — it had become a central hub in a much larger criminal ecosystem.
Other companies took notice as well. The major crypto exchange Upbit said it recently closed over 200 accounts connected to Huione after detecting suspicious movements that appeared to be part of broader laundering efforts. And as pressure kept building, Huione tried to rebrand itself, switching the name from Huione Pay to H-Pay , hoping to stage a comeback. But the shutdown and the bank-run-like panic show that trust had already been shattered.
Right now, users are left in uncertainty, regulators are piecing together the full impact, and the wider crypto community is watching closely. The situation is being viewed as another reminder of how quickly unregulated financial platforms can become deeply tied to criminal activity — and how harsh the fallout can be once enforcement finally catches up.
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