Overview
- ICIJ links more than $408 million from Huione to Binance accounts between July 2024 and July 2025, plus at least $226 million to OKX during a period when Binance was supervised by court‑appointed monitors.
- Transfers tied to Huione reached roughly $1 million per day to Binance as recently as July 2025 after the institution was labeled a primary money‑laundering concern by U.S. authorities.
- Reporters describe largely unregulated crypto‑to‑cash operations using cash desks and couriers in cities including Hong Kong, Toronto, London and Istanbul.
- The project spotlights an alleged $340 million pyramid scheme linked to Vladimir Okhotnikov, who was indicted in 2023 and remains at large in Dubai.
- OKX said it works with law enforcement and deploys on‑chain monitoring, while authorities have tallied at least $5.8 billion in exchange penalties and the FBI estimates U.S. crypto‑crime losses of $9.3 billion in 2024.