Key Takeaways:
- Chinese darknet marketplace Haowang Guarantee shut down after Telegram banned thousands of related accounts, disrupting its operations.
- The platform enabled roughly $27B in illicit USDT transactions and was recently designated by FinCEN as a money laundering network.
- A similar marketplace, Xinbi Guarantee, is under scrutiny with ties to over $8.4B in crypto flows and a U.S.-registered shell company.
A major Chinese darknet marketplace, Haowang Guarantee—formerly Huione Guarantee—has shut down following a crackdown by Telegram, which banned thousands of associated accounts on May 13, 2025.
The marketplace, accused of enabling crypto-related scams and cybercrime, announced it would cease operations after losing access to its core infrastructure.
🚨 Elliptic research leads to the shutdown of the two largest online criminal marketplaces of all time 🚨
— Elliptic (@elliptic) May 15, 2025
On May 13, 2025, @telegram took decisive action to shut down Huione Guarantee and Xinbi Guarantee — two vast illicit marketplaces operating on its platform — following… pic.twitter.com/PJ4OMD4iZ9
Telegram confirmed the bans targeted communities involved in scamming and money laundering.
Blockchain security firm Elliptic revealed that Haowang was linked to over $27 billion in illicit transactions, mostly using the Tether (USDT) stablecoin.
The broader Huione Group was connected to more than $98 billion in crypto activity.
Haowang provided a suite of scam-related services, including money laundering tools, stolen data, deepfake IDs, and even physical restraint devices allegedly used in Southeast Asian scam call centers.
Tom Robinson, co-founder of Elliptic, called the takedown a “game-changer” in the fight against online fraud and criminal markets.
The U.S. Treasury’s FinCEN also labeled Haowang a money laundering operation, ordering its exclusion from the U.S. financial system.
Meanwhile, another platform, Xinbi Guarantee, is under scrutiny, with at least $8.4 billion in crypto transactions linked to it.
Both platforms are believed to be part of a broader China-based underground banking system using stablecoins for large-scale money laundering.
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Efe Bravo, a seasoned journalist, delivers compelling insights into the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry.
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