Cambodia’s Huione Pay, a central hub in the Huione family of financial firms targeted by US sanctions, froze withdrawals on Monday and suspended business for more than a month, sparking panic among users who rushed to headquarters to seek access to their savings, according to local media.
Regulators and US authorities have long warned that Huione’s operations were intertwined with money laundering and crypto-based fraud activity. FinCEN severed Huione Group’s ties to the US financial system earlier this year, and Cambodia’s central bank had already revoked Huione Pay’s license.
According to previous CoinDesk reporting, Elliptic identified that Huione Pay and its Telegram-based marketplace Huione Guarantee processed as much as $98 billion in illegal crypto transactions before being shut down in 2025. Transactions included funds from virtual currency scams, cyber theft and money laundering operations linked to North Korea.
Crypto exchange Upbit said in November it closed more than 200 accounts linked to Huione after detecting suspicious flows of virtual assets it believed were being used for money laundering.
The company has reportedly rebranded Huione Pay as H-Pay as part of the relaunch process.
