Huione, a Telegram-based illicit marketplace that offers personal data and money laundering services, has launched its own stablecoin, according to a report from blockchain security firm Elliptic.
The stablecoin (USDH) was created to “avoid the common freezing and transfer restrictions of traditional digital currencies.” Huione’s website adds that “USDH is not restricted by traditional regulatory agencies.”
Before the launch of USDH, Huione users almost exclusively used tether (USDT). Tether froze one of Huione Pay’s accounts in July 2024 after a wallet received funds linked to a theft attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
The company also launched its own chat service to make it less dependent on third-party apps like Telegram.
The report claims that Huione has facilitated transactions worth $24 billion, including a large portion of the funds used in infamous pig slaughter scams. It is a Chinese-speaking market and has ties to Huione Group, a Cambodian conglomerate.
Elliptic’s investigation found that “thousands of vendors” offer “money laundering services, stolen personal data, technology and other elements necessary to conduct online fraud on an industrial scale.” He also found electric shackles intended for human trafficking victims.
One of the money laundering services claims to represent and operate from the Golden Fortune Science and Technology Park, a work camp that forces Vietnamese, Malaysian and Chinese citizens to carry out cyber scams.
