More than $35 million in stolen funds from the infamous $305 million DMM Bitcoin hack have been laundered through Huione Guarantee, an online marketplace operated by Cambodian conglomerate Huione Group.
It is interesting to note that this platform is part of a company linked to the Cambodian ruling family and has become a major center of illicit funds in Southeast Asia, frequently used by criminal organizations, including the butcher gangs of pigs
DMM Hack Fund via Huione Guarantee
Over the weekend, stablecoin issuer Tether took decisive action by blacklisting a wallet with 29.6 million USDT on Tron linked to Huione. As noted by prominent chain sleuth ZachXBT, roughly $14 million flowed into this exact wallet from the DMM Bitcoin hack in just three days.
Suspicions point to North Korea’s notorious Lazarus Group, known for similar laundering techniques and off-chain indicators, as being behind the attack.
ZachXBT further explained that the laundering route involved depositing Bitcoin from the hack into a mixer, withdrawing the tokens, connecting funds to Ethereum or Avalanche via platforms such as THORChain, Threshold, and the Avalanche bridge, exchanging for USDT, and finally connecting- se to Tron via SWFT. before moving to Huione.
Notably, ZachXBT previously found that millions from the $31 million Fintech investment fraud scheme were funneled to Huione.
Huione: Hub for Crypto Scammers, Torture Squads?
Last week, crypto-tracking firm Elliptic discovered the extensive use of Huione Guarantee, a escrow and escrow service for peer-to-peer transactions that allows users to buy and sell via Telegram with the popular stablecoin USDT, by crypto scammers.
Elliptic estimates that the majority of transactions on Huione Guarantee, based mainly on public announcements in Chinese, support pig butchering operations.
The market also offers various products that enable the scam, such as equipment used to imprison and torture workers with scam compounds. The ads often feature items such as tear gas, electric batons, and electronic handcuffs, with references to controlling “runaway dogs,” a derogatory term for workers at these compounds.
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