Telegram Pulls Plug on Haowang Guarantee Crypto Crime Syndicate

Telegram has terminated the most prolific crypto-fueled black market ever seen online, erasing a network that helped launder more than $27 billion across Asia’s cyber scam economy.

On Monday, the messaging platform banned thousands of accounts linked to Haowang Guarantee, formerly Huione Guarantee, forcing the illicit marketplace to shut down almost immediately.

“Telegrame were blocked all of our NFT, Channels and group… Haowang Grarantee will cease operation from now,” read a statement posted to Haowang’s website.

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, which has tracked the platform since mid-2023, reported that vendors operating through Haowang sold laundered USDT, stolen data, fake IDs, and tools used to abuse workers trapped in scam compounds across Southeast Asia.

🚨 Elliptic research leads to the shutdown of the two largest online criminal marketplaces of all time 🚨

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

— Elliptic (@elliptic) May 15, 2025

Telegram confirmed the removal of communities referenced in Elliptic’s findings and reiterated its policy banning laundering and scam-related activity, as per a Wired report.

“This is a huge win,” said Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson, calling the takedown a major blow to the infrastructure behind industrialized cyber fraud.

A Telegram spokesperson confirmed the enforcement to Wired, saying the company had removed multiple networks highlighted in third-party investigations, including those cited by Elliptic and mentioned in press coverage.

In a January report, Elliptic called Huione “the largest online illicit marketplace to have ever operated,” dwarfing Silk Road and AlphaBay in scale and financial volume.

The move also follows an enforcement action by the U.S. Treasury Department, which earlier this month proposed designating Huione Group, Haowang’s parent company, as a “primary money laundering concern.”

Between August 2021 and January 2025, Treasury officials allege Huione Group processed more than $4 billion in dirty money, including $37 million tied to North Korean cyberheists and $300 million from pig butchering and investment scams targeting U.S. citizens.

In January, Google Play delisted Huione Guarantee’s mobile app, and Cambodia’s central bank revoked the license of its payments arm, Huione Pay.

Haowang spin-offs fill the void

The collapse of Haowang hasn’t stopped the system from mutating.

Elliptic’s latest report shows that Xinbi Guarantee, another Telegram-based marketplace with 233,000 users, remains active after processing at least $8.4 billion in questionable funds.

Some of Xinbi’s vendors explicitly advertise laundering funds from “pig butchering” scams and chat-based fraud targeting Westerners.

Elliptic also traced funds from the $235 million WazirX hack, attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, directly to wallets linked to Xinbi and Huione.

The firm says Haowang’s operators may now pivot to a third black market brand, Tudou Guarantee, already seeing a surge in users.

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