Telegram Closes Haowang Guarantee, Largest Illicit Marketplace with $27 Billion Transactions
Telegram has closed the illicit marketplace Haowang Guarantee, previously known as Huione Guarantee, which processed over $27 billion in stablecoin transactions since 2021. The closure was based on insights from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.
This action is part of a broader crackdown on Chinese crypto-crime channels on Telegram, following Elliptic's findings regarding another marketplace, Xinbi Guarantee. Both Huione and Xinbi combined facilitated $35 billion in illicit stablecoin transactions.
- Huione Guarantee: over $27 billion in transactions since 2021
- Xinbi Guarantee: $8.4 billion in transactions since 2022
- For comparison, Silk Road processed $216 million, Alphabay $639 million
These "guarantee" marketplaces allow merchants to sell to customers without directly selling goods or services. Historically, such operations used anonymous browsers like Tor but have shifted to Telegram, which has over a billion users.