Chinese Crypto Scammers Fuel Record Darknet Markets on Telegram
▼ Summary
– Chinese-language crypto scam markets on Telegram have become the largest illicit online marketplaces in history, far surpassing earlier dark web markets.
– The two current top markets, Tudou Guarantee and Xinbi Guarantee, facilitate nearly $2 billion monthly in money laundering and sales of scam tools and services.
– These markets support “pig butchering” scams, a highly lucrative form of cybercrime that generates around $10 billion annually from U.S. victims alone.
– Unlike earlier markets that relied on the dark web, these operations function openly on Telegram, requiring only persistence and Chinese language fluency.
– A previous market, Huione Guarantee, processed an estimated $27 billion from 2021 to 2025, demonstrating the immense scale of this ecosystem.
The landscape of online illicit trade has undergone a dramatic transformation, shifting from the hidden corners of the dark web to the brazen openness of mainstream messaging apps. Chinese-language crypto scam markets operating on Telegram have now become the largest illicit online marketplaces in history, eclipsing even the most infamous dark web platforms. This new ecosystem thrives not on sophisticated anonymity networks but on the sheer scale of its operations and the willingness of its users to exploit a popular communication tool.
A recent analysis from the crypto tracing firm Elliptic reveals that these Telegram-based markets have grown to an unprecedented size. Despite Telegram banning two major markets earlier this year, the current leading platforms, Tudou Guarantee and Xinbi Guarantee, are facilitating nearly $2 billion in transactions every month. These funds flow through a disturbing array of services, including sophisticated money laundering, the sale of stolen personal data, tools for creating fake investment websites, and AI-powered deepfake technology. The markets also host offers for other illegal activities, ranging from human trafficking services to prostitution.
This explosive growth is directly tied to the rise of “pig butchering” scams, a devastating form of financial fraud. These elaborate romance and investment cons, often operated by trafficking victims in Southeast Asian compounds, now represent the world’s most profitable cybercrime. They extract an estimated $10 billion annually from victims in the United States alone. By providing essential money-laundering services and scam-related tools to these criminal operations, the Telegram markets have scaled to immense proportions. “When you consider illicit use of crypto assets, there really isn’t anything larger right now,” states Tom Robinson, Elliptic’s cofounder and chief scientist.
The historical comparison underscores the staggering scale of this shift. AlphaBay, once the dark web’s largest marketplace for drugs and hacking tools, facilitated over $1 billion in transactions during its lifespan. The Russian dark web market Hydra, which operated for seven years, processed more than $5 billion. These figures are dwarfed by the activity on these Telegram channels. Elliptic reports that a single market, Huione Guarantee, processed a stunning $27 billion in transactions between 2021 and 2025. This volume, achieved while operating in plain sight on a public messaging platform, has led analysts to label it simply as the largest illicit online marketplace ever to exist. The era of hidden darknet bazaars has given way to a new model of high-volume, openly conducted criminal commerce.
(Source: Wired)
