OKX founder and CEO Star Xu has condemned the controversial Cambodian financial conglomerate, Huione Group, and said the entity has “caused serious damage in the crypto space” while stressing that the exchange maintains strict compliance controls to prevent any association with it.
Xu’s statement came shortly after an enforcement action led by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on October 14, in coordination with the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO).
Huione Group Hit by Sanctions
The joint operation targeted large-scale scam networks across Southeast Asia, and designated the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO) and 146 affiliates for their roles in crypto-enabled fraud, illicit mining, and global money laundering activities.
As part of the sanctions, the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) also blacklisted Byex Exchange after discovering its ties to Jin Bei Group Co. Ltd and the Prince Group. Huione Group, which was previously flagged by FinCEN in May, has now been formally classified as a “primary money laundering concern” under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. This designation effectively cuts it off from the US financial system.
The crackdown intensified as the US Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed criminal charges against Chen Zhi, also known as “Vincent,” who happens to be the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group.
Alongside the indictment, the DOJ filed a whopping $15 billion civil forfeiture case tied to approximately 127,000 BTC allegedly generated through the group’s extensive network of fraudulent crypto operations.
From Huione to Tudou
Huione Group’s subsidiary, Huione Guarantee, the Telegram-based marketplace which was later rebranded as “Haowang Guarantee,” facilitated over $24 billion in transactions since its inception in 2021 to January 2025.
Before its shutdown in May, Huione expanded its digital ecosystem by launching multiple blockchain-based tools, including USDH, a US dollar-backed stablecoin designed to sidestep traditional regulatory controls. It also developed a decentralized exchange, a proprietary wallet, and the ChatMe communication platform modeled after Telegram. The group created a closed ecosystem that allowed internal transfers while minimizing exposure to regulatory oversight.
Since its closure, criminal networks have moved to another Telegram-based market, Tudou Guarantee, which was found to have absorbed a large share of its predecessor’s transactions.