By 2025, Cambodia’s underground crypto market isn’t just a loophole-it’s a global criminal enterprise that moves billions in stolen money, feeds human trafficking, and operates with near-total impunity. While the National Bank of Cambodia banned cryptocurrency in 2019, the ban didn’t stop trading. It made it deadlier.
How a Ban Created a Criminal Empire
In 2019, Cambodia’s central bank issued Directive No. 1125, outlawing all crypto transactions. The goal was simple: stop financial chaos. But instead of shutting down crypto, the ban pushed it into the shadows-and straight into the hands of organized crime. What followed wasn’t a quiet black market. It was a full-scale industrial operation. Criminal groups built massive scam compounds across Sihanoukville and Chrey Thom, turning them into forced labor camps. Victims, lured by fake job offers from Thailand, Vietnam, and even the U.S., were trafficked into these compounds. Once inside, they were forced to run crypto scams 18 hours a day. If they didn’t meet daily targets, they were beaten, starved, or worse. At the center of it all was the Prince Group, a criminal syndicate that turned hotels and casinos into fronts for fraud. The Jinbei Hotel and Casino? A scam hub. The Golden Fortune Science and Technology building? A prison disguised as a tech firm. These weren’t small-time operations. They were corporate-style crime rings with HR departments, security teams, and accounting units-all focused on laundering money through cryptocurrency.The Huione Guarantee Machine
The real engine behind this system? Huione Guarantee, also known as Huiwang Group. Founded in 2014, Huione didn’t just move crypto. It built a one-stop crime platform on Telegram, offering tools for fraudsters: fake wallets, fake trading interfaces, money laundering pipelines, and even stolen personal data. Chainalysis tracked Huione’s activity from August 2021 to January 2025 and found it laundered at least $4 billion. That includes $37 million from North Korean cyber thefts, $36 million from fake crypto investment scams, and over $300 million from ransomware and dark web payments. The scale was staggering. And it kept growing. By 2024, South Korean exchanges alone sent $8.9 million in crypto to Huione-up 1,400% from the year before. By October 2025, that number had climbed to $3.15 billion Korean Won. Even after global crackdowns began, the flow didn’t stop. It just got smarter. Huione didn’t just use crypto exchanges. It moved money through underground banks, shell companies, and casinos. It mixed coins, broke transactions into tiny chunks, and layered transfers across five different platforms. When one exchange flagged suspicious activity, they switched to another. When Telegram shut down their public channel in 2015, they moved to encrypted apps like Signal and Wickr. They adapted faster than regulators could track.How Victims Got Hooked
The scams weren’t crude. They were polished, professional, and devastatingly convincing. Victims-mostly in the U.S., South Korea, and Australia-received messages on WhatsApp, Telegram, or Instagram. Someone claiming to be a successful trader would message them: “I made $200,000 in three months. Want to learn how?” They’d be invited to a private group or a fake trading app that looked exactly like Binance or KuCoin. The interface was flawless. The charts moved in real time. The “profits” piled up. Then came the ask: “Deposit $5,000 to unlock the full strategy.” People sent it. Sometimes $10,000. Sometimes $100,000. Then the app froze. The “advisor” vanished. The money was gone-funneled into Huione’s laundering network, then into cash through Cambodian casinos and real estate deals. Reddit threads from September 2025 show hundreds of victims sharing stories. One man lost $250,000 after trusting a “financial consultant” who sent him a link to a “private crypto fund.” Another woman, a retired teacher from Ohio, lost her life savings after being convinced the returns were guaranteed. Trustpilot reviews for Huione-related services-before they were deleted-showed a 1.2-star average. Common complaints: “Account frozen after deposit,” “No withdrawal possible,” “Threats if I asked for my money back.”
Why Cambodia? The Perfect Storm
Why did this happen here? Not because Cambodians love crypto. It’s because the country was wide open. Cambodia has a cash-based economy. Few people use banks. Financial records are weak. The Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Cambodia 128th out of 180 countries in 2024. Law enforcement was underfunded. The central bank had no real power to monitor transactions outside the formal system. And then there was geography. Cambodia sits between Vietnam and Thailand-two countries with strong crypto adoption but strict regulations. Scammers could lure victims from those countries, then move the money into Cambodia, where no one was looking. The Prince Group didn’t just exploit this. They engineered it. They hired local officials. They paid off police. They bought land and built luxury hotels to launder money as “legitimate business income.” One compound even had a swimming pool and a gym-so victims would think they were working at a resort.The 2024 Regulatory Flip
In late 2024, the National Bank of Cambodia made a move that shocked everyone. Instead of doubling down on the ban, it introduced Prakas B7-024-735 Prokor-a new licensing system for crypto exchanges. On paper, this looked like progress. Finally, regulation. Finally, oversight. But it backfired. Criminal groups didn’t shut down. They applied for licenses. They hired compliance officers. They created fake KYC documents. Huione didn’t disappear. It rebranded. It opened a “licensed” office in Phnom Penh and started advertising “secure crypto services.” The U.S. Department of Justice called it a “regulatory shell game.” Criminals were now hiding in plain sight, using the same paperwork that legitimate businesses needed to operate. The new rules didn’t stop crime. They gave it a seal of approval.
The Billion Seizure
On October 14, 2025, everything changed. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil complaint against the Prince Group, naming over 20 entities linked to the scam compounds. They didn’t just accuse them. They moved to seize assets-$15 billion in Bitcoin. It was the largest asset forfeiture in U.S. history. The seizure didn’t happen overnight. It took years of collaboration between the FBI, the U.K.’s National Crime Agency, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service, and Chainalysis. They traced wallets, mapped transaction chains, and linked fake trading platforms to real-world addresses in Cambodia. The impact was immediate. Major exchanges like Binance, KuCoin, and OKX cut off all Cambodian-linked accounts. Telegram shut down hundreds of scam channels. The Prince Group’s internal documents-where executives wrote about “BTC laundering” and “underground money houses”-were made public. But the network didn’t collapse. It fractured. Smaller groups splintered off. They moved operations to remote areas. They started using privacy coins like Monero and Zcash. They shifted to decentralized exchanges where no one asks for ID.What’s Next?
The fight isn’t over. The $15 billion seizure was historic, but it’s a drop in the ocean. Chainalysis estimates the total value of crypto laundered through Cambodia since 2020 exceeds $20 billion. The National Bank of Cambodia is now exploring a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to replace underground crypto. But that’s a five-year project. In the meantime, people still use crypto. According to Standard Insights’ 2025 report, 10.63% of Cambodians still trade it-despite the ban. The real question isn’t whether Cambodia can stop underground crypto. It’s whether the world will stop letting it grow. Until foreign governments pressure Cambodia to prosecute its own criminals, until banks cut off all ties to Cambodian casinos and shell companies, until victims stop falling for fake crypto returns-the underground market will keep running. And it will keep getting bigger.How to Stay Safe
If you’re thinking about crypto investments:- Never trust strangers on social media who promise guaranteed returns.
- Never deposit money into apps or wallets you didn’t download from official stores.
- Check the website-if it looks too perfect, too professional, it’s fake.
- Use only regulated exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, or Binance (if available in your country).
- Report suspicious activity to your country’s financial crimes unit.
Is crypto trading illegal in Cambodia?
Yes, under Directive No. 1125 from 2019, all cryptocurrency transactions are banned by the National Bank of Cambodia. However, the ban is largely unenforced, and underground trading continues. In late 2024, Cambodia introduced a licensing system, which criminals have exploited to operate under the guise of legality.
Who is behind the biggest crypto scam network in Cambodia?
The Prince Group, led by Chen Zhi, runs the largest criminal network tied to crypto scams in Cambodia. They operate forced labor compounds in Sihanoukville and Chrey Thom, where trafficked workers run investment fraud schemes. Their laundering operation, Huione Guarantee, processed over $4 billion in illicit crypto between 2021 and 2025.
How do crypto scams from Cambodia reach U.S. victims?
Scammers contact victims via WhatsApp, Telegram, or Instagram, posing as successful traders. They lure people into fake trading platforms that mimic Binance or KuCoin. Once victims deposit money, the platform freezes, and the funds are laundered through underground banks and casinos in Cambodia. The U.S. Justice Department traced over $18 million from U.S. victims to Prince Group accounts through the "Brooklyn Network."
Why did the U.S. seize $15 billion in Bitcoin related to Cambodia?
The $15 billion seizure, announced in October 2025, targeted assets linked to the Prince Group and Huione Guarantee. It was the largest asset forfeiture in U.S. history and followed years of international cooperation between the FBI, U.K. National Crime Agency, and blockchain analysts. The funds were traced from crypto scams, ransomware, and dark web transactions back to Cambodian laundering hubs.
Are Cambodian crypto exchanges now safe to use?
No. While Cambodia introduced a licensing system in late 2024, criminal groups have used it to create fake "legal" exchanges. Many licensed entities are fronts for money laundering. The National Bank of Cambodia still lacks the resources to properly monitor them. Experts warn that until international pressure increases, no Cambodian crypto platform can be considered safe.
What should I do if I lost money to a Cambodia-based crypto scam?
Report it immediately to your country’s financial crimes unit (e.g., FinCEN in the U.S., AUSTRAC in Australia). Provide all transaction IDs, wallet addresses, and screenshots of the platform. While recovery is unlikely, reporting helps build cases against criminal networks. Avoid paying "recovery agents" who promise to get your money back-they’re often part of the same scam.
Jonathan Sundqvist
December 4, 2025 AT 15:15This is why we need to nuke the whole damn region. No more hand-holding. No more 'diplomacy.' If Cambodia won't clean up its own backyard, we should cut off every dime, every flight, every visa. These criminals are operating with U.S. money. Let's make them bleed.
Stop treating this like a financial issue. It's a war. And we're losing.
Send in the SEALs. Not for invasion. For asset raids. Take the casinos. Freeze the properties. Burn the servers. Then let the world see what real justice looks like.
Thomas Downey
December 5, 2025 AT 16:32One is left to ponder the moral architecture of our global financial order when a sovereign state, bereft of institutional integrity, becomes the epicenter of a transnational syndicate that monetizes human suffering through algorithmic deception. The Huione Guarantee apparatus-far from being an aberration-is merely the logical culmination of neoliberal deregulation, compounded by the epistemological collapse of trust in centralized institutions.
Let us not mistake this for criminality. It is systemic pathology. And we, the consumers of convenience, the believers in 'blockchain utopia,' are its architects.