Ever since the Internet started, humans have used the World Wide Web for all sorts of things, from shopping to exchanging information. But just like many things in the world, the Internet has been used in different ways, and some are far from legal. Illegal activities have existed alongside the legal aspects of the Internet, and the latest reports have shown that this dark side is flourishing just fine. 

According to a report published by crypto compliance firm Elliptic, Huione Guarantee, regarded as “the largest online illicit marketplace in history,” has recorded a massive 51% growth in monthly inflows over just half a year!

Elliptic’s report shows that Huione Guarantee’s growth is moving at an incredible pace, with over $24 billion in transactions recorded to date.

Huione Guarantee has been in Elliptic's sights since July 2024, when the crypto compliance firm alleged that a substantial portion of Huione’s operations was linked to illegal activities such as money laundering and cyber scams.

This latest report shows that Huione Guarantee’s users have increased to over 900,000 since July, which marks a 51% monthly inflow. Elliptic stated, “These figures indicate that Huione Guarantee is already the largest online illicit marketplace to have ever operated.”

Even with the allegations of illicit operations, The Huione Group recently launched several crypto-related products, including a US dollar stablecoin, a blockchain, a crypto exchange, and a messaging app, according to Elliptic’s report. 

Huione’s growth has also been attributed to the launch of USDH in September 2024. USDH was designed as a dollar-pegged stablecoin with the added advantage of avoiding regulatory oversight and asset-freezing capabilities, unlike other stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT.

USDH was created primarily as a response to an incident in July when Tether blocked access to USDT funds belonging to Huione Pay. Tether took this action after discovering connections between Huione Pay and The Lazarus Group, a hacking organization with ties to North Korea.

Since it began, USDH has been issued on multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, Binance’s BNB Chain, and even Tron. It is, however, important to differentiate Huione’s USH from the Solana-based DeFi protocol Hubble. 

It seems Huione aims to go fully independent with its most recent activities. Huione recently started its own blockchain, aptly named “Huione Chain” or “Xone Chain.” The Huione group also created its decentralized exchange, allowing USDH to be swapped for other crypto assets. In addition, the platform started its own chat service to be less reliant on third-party chat apps such as Telegram. 

Following Elliptic's allegations of fraud links, Huione also rebranded itself from Huione Guarantee to Haowang Guarantee in an attempt to leave its tainted past behind. 

In spite of this attempt at rebranding, cybersecurity researchers have discovered “thousands of vendors” offering “money laundering services, stolen personal data, technology, and other items necessary to conduct online fraud on an industrial scale.” 

Elliptic’s report concludes that "perhaps no other single entity bears as much responsibility as Huione Guarantee for the global cyber scam epidemic, which has ruined countless lives.”

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