According to new research published Tuesday by blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, a shadowy Cambodian holding company with ties to the highest levels of the country’s party-state has become the largest online criminal marketplace in history. Huione Group – widely regarded as the connective tissue of Cambodia’s massive elite-driven scam industry – boasts a flourishing digital forum dedicated to criminal activities and a suite of related money laundering services for industry practitioners. With more than $24 billion in funds traced through Huione Guarantee over the last three-and-a-half years, it now significantly eclipses Hydra – the largest ever darknet market, which generated over $5 billion in its six years of criminal operations.
Huione as a portrait of next-gen criminal dominance underscores both the relative profitability of cybercrime vis-a-vis the drug trade (from where most of Hydra’s revenues originated) and, equally important, the magnificent scale of operations that can be achieved when elite criminals enjoy reliable state backing.
