Huobi’s New Crypto Transaction Monitor Will Automatically Freeze Suspicious Accounts

Huobi Group has launched an in-house transaction intelligence tool to snuff out illicit activity across its crypto exchanges.

The new program, called “Star Atlas,” will automatically freeze accounts deemed to be engaging in “suspicious” transactions until a compliance officer follows up on the case, according to a Monday press release. It will help Huobi’s exchanges target “abnormal behaviors” and “problematic transactions” in real time.

What the exchange group deems illicit behavior patterns was not immediately clear – the firm did not respond to requests for comment by press time. However, the press release said Star Altas will reference a trove of blacklisted addresses in its monitoring of user transactions.

Global Business VP Ciara Sun said in the press release that Star Atlas will help the group’s exchanges crack down on “bad actors” whose shady dealings imperil crypto for the majority of rule-following users. 

Those bad actors have shown an apparent penchant for Huobi, according to a 2019 crypto money laundering report by Chainalysis, which develops enterprise intelligence software much like Star Atlas. Chainalysis claimed Huobi was the off-ramp for nearly 25 percent of the $2.8 billion in illicit bitcoin (BTC) transactions Chainalysis traced in 2019. Only Binance had a higher share. 

Star Atlas’ launch comes as Huobi prepares to re-enter the U.S. market with an unnamed regulated partner. Sun previously told CoinDesk that it hopes to comply with local regulations more easily through the partnership than its previous Huobi US affiliate could manage.