Over the weekend, Tether blacklisted a wallet holding $29.6 million worth of USDT stablecoins connected to Huione Guarantee. This Cambodian marketplace is allegedly tied to a multi-billion dollar online scam economy, according to on-chain sleuth ZachXBT.
At least $14 million of the blacklisted funds are tied to the hack of the Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin. This exchange lost an estimated $300 million in early June due to an unauthorized outflow of funds. ZachXBT claims some $35 million linked to this exploit has been laundered via Huione Guarantee.
Suspicion of Lazarus Group
Lazarus Group, known for hacking crypto protocols, is suspected of being behind the DMM Bitcoin hack. The laundering techniques and off-chain indicators bear similarities to those used by Lazarus Group. ZachXBT outlined the laundering path, detailing the movement of funds from Bitcoin to Ethereum or Avalanche, then swapping for USDT and bridging to Tron before transferring to Huione.
Ties to Criminal Activities
Huione Pay, affiliated with Huione Guarantee, received at least $150,000 worth of crypto from a wallet linked to Lazarus. Last week, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic released a report on Huione merchants advertising illicit services, including money laundering.
The firm traced $11 billion in transactions over three years, noting much of it was laundered from internet scams like “pig butchering” and crypto schemes. ZachXBT noted millions from the $31 million Fintoch investment fraud scheme were also funneled to Huione.
This crackdown highlights ongoing efforts to combat money laundering and criminal activities in the crypto space.
Also Read: Tether CEO Calls For Localized AI Model After OpenAI Hack
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