Cryptocurrency exchange OKX announced strict anti-money laundering controls on transactions involving Huione Group following U.S. Treasury sanctions against the entity.
OKX founder and CEO Star Xu stated that Huione Group “has caused serious damage in the crypto space” and the exchange “enforces strict controls related to it.” The action follows October 14 designations by OFAC and FinCEN against the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization and 146 associates.
The regulators identified over $4 billion in criminal money laundered by the Huione Group between August 2021 and January 2025. It also enabled receipt of over $98 billion in total crypto inflows.
OKX enforces strict AML policies subsequent to sanctions
OKX enforced stringent anti-money laundering measures directed towards activities associated with Huione Group subsequent to the US Department of the Treasury placing sanctions. The official OKX Twitter account announced that “all crypto asset deposit or withdrawal transactions related to Huiwang Group will be subject to compliance investigations.” The exchange served notice that it may take measures such as freezing or completing account service.
The AML regulations require enhanced due diligence for any withdrawals or deposits that are connected to Huione Group-related addresses or entities. The process of compliance investigation will consider the sources of the transactions, the counterparties, and the ultimate beneficiaries.
OFAC designates Prince Group and 146 associates
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network took action October 14, 2025, against Southeast Asia-based networks that enabled scams. Included in the listing is the Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization and its large network of companies and individuals.
The UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation approved the move. The UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation has also sanctioned Byex Exchange, a cryptocurrency platform that has ties to Jin Bei Group Co. Ltd and the Prince Group.
Huione Group closed a total crypto inflow of $98B
The authorities detected more than $4 billion in criminal proceeds laundered through the Huione Group from August 2021 to January 2025. The criminal proceeds laundered included $37 million from North Korean hacking heists, $36 million from crypto investment frauds, and $300 million from other hacking schemes.
Huione Group assisted in the facilitation of transactions for a variety of criminal players such as money launderers, prostitution services, providers of narcotics, and blacklisted entities. The financial services firm served as infrastructure for organized crime syndicates in Southeast Asia.
Byex Exchange, that has also been sanctioned by the UK, directly dealt with Huione according to blockchain analysis. The platform supported payments for pig butchering fraud schemes, tech scam merchants like social media targeting and SMS account services, and money transmission services aiding criminal proceeds laundering.
The defendant directly managed four bitcoin addresses and accumulated more than $1.77 billion in bitcoin in the span of two and a half years. The group ran a dedicated bitcoin mining operation in Laos via Warp Data Technology and transferred enormous amounts of bitcoin to wallets controlled by Chen Zhi.
As previously reported by Cryptopolitan, the Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint for approximately $15 billion involving 127,000 Bitcoin held in U.S. custody. The seized cryptocurrency is the largest single forfeiture action in law enforcement history.
