Crypto Transfers Between Korean Exchanges and Cambodia’s Huione Jump 1,400x to $8.9M
Cryptocurrency transfers between South Korea’s largest exchanges and Cambodia’s Huione Guarantee surged almost 1,400 occasions final yr.
Key Takeaways:
- Crypto transfers between South Korea’s high exchanges and Cambodia’s Huione Guarantee surged 1,400x to $8.9 million in 2024.
- The US and UK–sanctioned Huione Group is suspected of laundering funds tied to fraud, cybercrime, and human trafficking.
- All 5 Korean exchanges have suspended transactions with Huione, as regulators tighten anti–cash laundering oversight.
The surge has raised alarms amongst regulators and lawmakers over attainable money-laundering hyperlinks to transnational prison networks working in Southeast Asia.
Korean Crypto Exchanges Halt Transfers After $8.9M Surge in Crime Transactions
According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), obtained by opposition lawmaker Rep. Lee Yang-soo, transfers between Korea’s 5 main crypto exchanges, together with Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax and Huione Guarantee reached 12.8 billion received ($8.9 million) in 2024.
The determine is up from simply 9.22 million received within the earlier yr. The dramatic spike prompted all 5 exchanges to droop transactions with the Cambodian platform.
Huione Group, the Phnom Penh-based mother or father firm of Huione Guarantee, has been sanctioned by both the US and UK governments for allegedly laundering digital assets tied to fraud, cybercrime, and human trafficking.
Its digital asset arm is believed to function a key monetary conduit for these networks.
Bithumb recorded the most important publicity, with transfers leaping from 9.22 million received in 2023 to 12.4 billion received final yr.
Upbit, which had no prior dealings with Huione, logged one other 366.9 million received in inflows and outflows.
The exercise has continued into 2025, totaling 3.15 billion received in transactions as of October 20, far above pre-2024 ranges.
The majority of cross-border transfers had been made in Tether (USDT), a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. greenback that’s usually favored for cross-border remittances due to its liquidity and ease of conversion.
South Korean authorities have responded swiftly. Upbit’s operator, Dunamu, reported Huione to regulators after detecting suspicious transactions, figuring out linked wallets, and imposing a full switch ban.
Bithumb adopted swimsuit, blocking all Huione-related deposits and withdrawals in early May.
Separately, the FSS revealed that Cambodian branches of 4 Korean banks — Jeonbuk Bank, KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, and Woori Bank — paid 1.45 billion received in curiosity to Prince Group, one other Cambodia-based agency below investigation for suspected monetary crimes.
Financial regulators, led by Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eog-weon, pledged tighter oversight, together with preemptive account freezes and stricter anti–cash laundering (AML) controls.
South Korean Retail Investors Pour $1.24B Into US Tech, Crypto Stocks
As reported, South Korean traders turned the Chuseok vacation right into a high-risk buying and selling week, pouring $1.24 billion into US tech and crypto-linked assets whereas native markets had been closed between October 3 and 9, knowledge from the Korea Securities Depository reveals.
The frenzy was led by leveraged ETFs and high-growth shares, as merchants sought to trip Wall Street’s momentum amid optimism surrounding US tech resilience and home stimulus hopes.
Top overseas buys included the Direxion Daily Tesla Bull 2X ETF with $151 million in purchases, adopted by Iris Energy ($105 million), Meta Platforms ($100 million), and Tesla ($96 million).
Investors additionally snapped up $95 million value of the T-REX 2X Long BMNR Daily Target ETF, which tracks BitMine Immersion Technologies with double publicity, highlighting rising urge for food for crypto-related equities.
However, the timing proved unlucky. The shopping for spree ended abruptly as U.S.–China commerce tensions sparked a worldwide market pullback, erasing a lot of the earlier week’s good points.
Meanwhile, in August, South Korea’s monetary regulator moved to rein in risky lending practices within the digital asset sector, ordering native exchanges to droop all crypto lending companies till a correct regulatory framework is established.
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