Telegram Shuts Down $27B Crypto Crime Black Marketplace: Report

In a major crackdown on crypto crime, Telegram has shut down Haowang Guarantee, a massive $27 billion black marketplace. In an announcement published on Tuesday, the ‘world’s largest-ever illicit online marketplace’ Haowang Guarantee revealed, “Since all our NFTs, channels, and groups were blocked by Telegram on May 13, 2025, Haowang Guarantee will cease operations from now on.”

Nogably, Haowang Guarantee was a massive Telegram-based black market catering to Southeast Asian customers, particularly crypto scammers and illicit online actors. The platform allowed third-party vendors to sell various services and goods.

Telegram Blocks Darknet Marketplace Haowang Guarantee

Reports of Telegram shutting down Haowang Guarantee spread today. The platform is said to have purged numerous accounts linked to the black market in a massive crackdown.

Significantly, this move could be linked to the blockchain analytics firm Elliptic’s research findings. In July 2024, Elliptic shed light on the illicit activities orchestrated by Haowang Guarantee, which triggered an investigation into the marketplace.

According to the analyst, the dark marketplace “sells goods and services to fraudsters in South East Asia, including those responsible for so-called ‘pig butchering’ scams.” Addressing the platform as the largest darknet marketplace ever, Elliptic added, “With transactions totaling at least $27 billion (all in Tether’s USDT stablecoin), it is the largest illicit online marketplace to have ever operated.”

Adding more clues to the messaging platform-linked dark marketplaces, the analyst published a blog post on Tuesday. The post highlighted some similar smaller marketplaces like Xinbi. In a related development, the Australian authorities blocked 90+ platforms allegedly linked to hacks and pig-butchering scams.

In response to Elliptic’s findings, Telegram banned more than thousands of accounts connected to Haowang Guarantee and Xinbi. A spokesperson cited,

Communities previously reported to us by WIRED or included in reports published by Elliptic have all been taken down. Criminal activities like scamming or money laundering are forbidden by Telegram’s terms of service and are always removed whenever discovered.

Xinbi Guarantee

Similar to Haowang, Xinbi is another darknet marketplace on Telegram, with about 233,000 users. Both platforms use Tether’s USDT as the primary payment method.

Reportedly, Xinbi Guarantee has processed $8.4 billion in USDT transactions since 2022, with a significant surge in activity, reaching $1 billion in inflows in Q4 2024. The platform primarily enables money laundering services, which account for most transactions, alongside other illicit activities. In a recent development, Germany shut down eXch, a platform linked to the $1.4 billion Bybit hack.