In a sweeping crackdown that reverberated across the crypto underworld, Telegram has shut down what analysts are calling the largest darknet marketplace ever to exist—Haowang Guarantee, previously known as Huione Guarantee. The platform had become a central hub in Asia’s cyber scam economy, enabling the laundering of more than $27 billion before its abrupt collapse this week.
The takedown came as Telegram banned thousands of accounts tied to the illicit operation, effectively rendering the marketplace inoperable overnight. A notice posted on Haowang’s official site confirmed the shutdown, stating: “Telegram blocked all of our NFTs, channels, and groups… Haowang Guarantee will cease operation from now.”
Haowang Guarantee’s demise marks a major victory for law enforcement and transparency advocates. The platform had become infamous for selling laundered Tether (USDT), forged documents, stolen personal data, and scam-enabling technology used in Southeast Asia’s trafficking compounds, where victims were often forced into running fraud rings.
Elliptic, the blockchain analytics firm that monitored Haowang’s activities since mid-2023, identified the marketplace as a sprawling digital black market that thrived within Telegram’s semi-encrypted ecosystem—until now.
U.S. Treasury Flags Parent Firm as Laundering Threat
Elliptic’s January report didn’t mince words—calling Huione Guarantee the largest online illicit marketplace in history, far surpassing infamous predecessors like Silk Road and AlphaBay in both scale and transaction volume.
That assessment now aligns with rising action from regulators. Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Department moved to formally designate Huione Group—the parent company of Haowang Guarantee—as a “primary money laundering concern.” The proposed designation reflects an increasingly aggressive stance by U.S. officials to isolate and neutralize financial networks fueling transnational cybercrime.
According to Treasury data, Huione Group allegedly facilitated over $4 billion in illicit transactions between August 2021 and January 2025. That includes $37 million traced to North Korean hacking operations and a staggering $300 million derived from pig butchering scams and fraudulent investment schemes targeting U.S. citizens.
The crackdown has extended beyond regulatory watchlists. In January, Google Play removed the Huione Guarantee app from its platform, and Cambodia’s central bank revoked the operating license of Huione Pay, its local payments subsidiary. The combined actions represent a broad, cross-border push to dismantle the financial backbone of one of the world’s most sophisticated crypto-enabled criminal syndicates.
New Telegram Marketplaces Rise to Fill the Gap
While the takedown of Haowang Guarantee dealt a major blow to crypto-enabled cybercrime, new players are already stepping in to fill the void. According to a fresh report from blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic, spin-off networks are evolving rapidly—most notably Xinbi Guarantee, a Telegram-based illicit marketplace now boasting over 230,000 users.
Xinbi has reportedly processed at least $8.4 billion in suspicious transactions, positioning itself as a major successor to Haowang. Some vendors on the platform openly advertise services to launder proceeds from pig butchering scams and chat-based fraud schemes—many of which specifically target Western users through fake online relationships and investment pitches.
Elliptic’s report also reveals disturbing overlaps with known nation-state threats. Investigators traced part of the $235 million stolen in the WazirX exchange hack—believed to be orchestrated by North Korea’s Lazarus Group—to wallets linked to both Xinbi and the now-defunct Huione marketplace.
Quick Facts
- Telegram banned thousands of accounts tied to Haowang Guarantee, dismantling a crypto marketplace linked to over $27 billion in illicit transactions.
- Haowang, formerly Huione Guarantee, was a central hub for laundering USDT, selling forged IDs, and enabling scams across Southeast Asia.
- The U.S. Treasury’s FinCEN proposed a designation of Huione Group as a major money laundering concern, citing ties to North Korean hackers and large-scale fraud.
- New platforms like Xinbi Guarantee have emerged, processing billions in suspicious transactions and showing links to sanctioned wallets and state-backed cybercrime groups.
