Google Removes the Huione application from the Play Store amid allegations of money laundering

Elliptic, a crypto security firm, discovered “thousands” of listings for “stolen confidential data” and “money laundering services.”

The mobile application of Huione Guarantee, a marketplace that operates on Telegram and is renowned for its utilization by criminal organizations in Southeast Asia, has been removed from the Google Play store due to an increase in platform activity.

Huione Guarantee, which Elliptic, a crypto compliance firm, has referred to as “the largest online illicit marketplace to have ever operated,” has seen a 51% increase in its monthly inflows in the past six months. The unveiling of its own USD stablecoin, USDH, in September coincides with this growth.

Huione Guarantee’s transactions have increased to $24 billion, according to Elliptic’s Jan. 14 report. Elliptic reported in July that Huione Guarantee’s online marketplace was significantly associated with money laundering and cyber frauds.

Elliptic’s most recent research indicates that the platform has attracted more than 901,000 users. Elliptic maintains that these figures suggest that Huione Guarantee is “the largest online illicit marketplace to have ever operated.”

The organization has recently introduced a variety of crypto-related products, such as a 1-to-1 U.S. dollar stablecoin, a blockchain, a decentralized exchange, and a messaging app. The applications are still accessible on Apple’s App Store as of the time of this writing; however, they have been unavailable on Google’s Play Store.

The USDH stablecoin’s introduction has contributed to Huione’s expansion. In July, Tether frozen one of Huione Pay’s USDT accounts, allegedly due to its association with the North Korean Lazarus Group. Subsequently, the company released a new stablecoin.

USDH was distributed on the Ethereum (ETH), BNB Chain (BNB), and Tron (TRX) blockchains, as well as its own Huione Chain. USDH, produced by the Solana-based DeFi protocol Hubble, is a stablecoin that is susceptible to confusion.

The Huione Chain, Huione’s proprietary blockchain, hosts a decentralized exchange that enables users to exchange USDH for other crypto assets. Finally, the platform has implemented its own messaging service to mitigate its dependence on external applications.

The debut of the new messaging application preceded Pavel Durov’s detention in France in August 2024. The founder pledged to “substantially enhance” moderation on Telegram, the platform where the majority of Huione transactions are presently conducted, following his release.

The platform has undergone a rebranding from Huione Guarantee to Haowang Guarantee in response to the Elliptic report. The platform contains “thousands of vendors” who advertise “money laundering services, stolen personal data, technology, and other items required to conduct online fraud on an industrial scale,” according to Elliptic’s research.

Elliptic concluded that the platform has “become a key enabler of cyber fraud operations in Southeast Asia.” The company emphasized that “Huione Guarantee may be the sole entity that bears the most culpability for the global cyber fraud epidemic, which has destroyed numerous lives.”

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