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Telegram has shut down Haowang Guarantee, formerly Huione Guarantee, a major Chinese darknet marketplace suspected of facilitating crypto scams and cybercrime. The platform, considered the internet's largest illicit marketplace, ceased operations after Telegram banned thousands of associated accounts on May 13, 2025.
According to a report in Wired, Telegram removed thousands of accounts and usernames that served as the infrastructure for the crypto crime marketplace and its vendors. Telegram spokesperson Remi Vaughn stated that criminal activities like scamming or money laundering are forbidden by Telegram's terms of service and are always removed upon discovery.
Blockchain security firm Elliptic estimates that the Chinese language black marketplace facilitated approximately $27 billion in illicit transactions, predominantly using the Tether stablecoin (USDT). The wider Huione Group of companies had reportedly facilitated over $98 billion in crypto transactions.
The marketplace offered services to crypto scammers, including money laundering, stolen personal data for pig butchering scams, telecommunications infrastructure and equipment, deepfake software and IDs, and physical restraint devices used in scam call center compounds across Southeast Asia.
Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson called the shutdown a "huge win," stating that it's a "game-changer in terms of overall online criminal markets" and a significant blow to the ability of online scammers. In early May, the platform was designated as a money laundering operation by FinCEN and was to be severed from the US banking system.
However, Elliptic has identified another Telegram-based illicit marketplace called Xinbi Guarantee, which has processed $8.4 billion in transactions so far. Xinbi was linked to a Colorado-based company listed as delinquent in January 2025. Black marketplaces like these demonstrate a "China-based underground banking system" leveraging stablecoins and crypto payments for large-scale money laundering, according to Elliptic.