Telegram’s $27B ’Haowang Guarantee’ Collapses in Crackdown—Darknet Markets Just Shrug

Messaging app Telegram’s latest enforcement wave just vaporized a $27 billion shadow banking scheme—but the dark markets it served are already routing around the damage. Here’s how the underground economy adapts before regulators finish their press releases.

The takedown that wasn’t: While Beijing celebrates the ’Haowang Guarantee’ collapse, OTC crypto channels on Telegram simply migrated to new channels within hours. Compliance teams scramble as liquidity fractures into harder-to-track fragments.

Follow the money (until you can’t): Forensic analysts trace the scheme’s footprint to over 800,000 transactions—a drop in the bucket for China’s $12T shadow finance sector. Meanwhile, privacy coins like Monero hit 18-month highs because of course they did.

The real lesson? For every billion-dollar crackdown headline, there’s a hedge fund VP quietly adjusting their algorithmic dark pool parameters. The house always wins—it just changes addresses.

Telegram’s Encryption: A Double-Edged Sword for Crime and Privacy

Elliptic’s investigation forced Haowang’s shutdown after exposing its criminal network, including ties to Cambodia’s Huione Group.

The platform operated as a full-service laundering hub for scam profits and trafficking proceeds, using Telegram’s encrypted channels to avoid detection. Huione Group issued USDH, a stablecoin created specifically to bypass sanctions and wash at least $4 billion in illegal funds.

According to the U.S. Treasury’s FinCEN, part of these laundered funds have been linked to the North Korean cyberheist organization Lazarus Group. Simultaneously, Telegram targeted Xinbi Guarantee after the release of Elliptic’s report.

Haowang and Xinbi processed over $35 billion in USDT before their closures.

Despite the crackdown, Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson reports that Haowang and Xinbi are trying to rebuild their presence on Telegram. Elliptic also warned that more than 30 similar Telegram-based marketplaces remain active.

The closures mark a rare enforcement win against crypto-based illicit finance, though challenges persist as operators and crime organizations adapt.

On May 1, FinCEN proposed suspending Huione Group’s access to the U.S. financial system, accusing the company of running a sprawling money laundering network.

Haowang had rebranded from Huione Guarantee but maintained ties to Huione Group, demonstrating the conglomerate’s central role in supporting Southeast Asia’s crypto crime ecosystem.

From Cyberheists to Kidnappings: The Violent Side of Crypto Crime

In 2024, illicit cryptocurrency transactions surged to at least $40.9 billion, according to Chainalysis, with the figure expected to rise as more illicit addresses are identified.

Stolen funds from hacks increased by 21% year-over-year to $2.2 billion, with North Korean hackers responsible for $1.34 billion, over 60% of the total.

These cybercriminals, namely the Lazarus Group and Tradetraitor, executed high-profile attacks, including the theft of 4,502.9 Bitcoin from Japan’s DMM bitcoin exchange in 2024.

Other criminal activities, such as high-yield investment frauds and “pig butchering”—a long-game romance/investment scam—continue to thrive, now enhanced by the use of AI for more convincing attacks.

The stolen assets are often laundered through illegal marketplace platforms like Huione Guarantee.

Criminal networks increasingly use cryptocurrency to facilitate traditional crimes, ranging from drug trafficking to intellectual property theft and even violent kidnappings.

For example, on May 13, 2025, the daughter and grandson of the CEO and co-founder of Paymium, a French cryptocurrency exchange, were attacked in broad daylight in Paris.

As three masked men attempted to kidnap them, the victims resisted, and bystanders intervened, including a shopkeeper who used a fire extinguisher to drive off the attackers.

On Tuesday, May 13, 2025, it is alleged that the French cryptocurrency platform Paymium CEO Pierre Noizat’s daughter and two-year-old child were targeted in the attempted kidnapping in Paris. There has been no confirmation of the identities of the victims or their relations by… pic.twitter.com/HAbsCU6fg1

Authorities claim that the emergence of large organized illicit organizations (and laundering services) has allowed the processing of billions in criminal transactions for various criminal activities.

Can Law Enforcement Keep Up with Crackdown on Crypto Crime?

FBI agents intercepted 5,400 crypto scams, recovered $285 million, and saved lives, stopping 42 suicides tied to financial ruin in 2025. But these wins felt small against the tsunami of dirty money flooding the crypto world. For every bust, criminals adapted faster.

JUST IN:

Americans lost $9.3 billion to cryptocurrency-related crimes in 2024, according to a report by the FBI

They slipped through Telegram’s encrypted channels, vanished into offshore exchanges, and the game kept changing.

Across the globe, law enforcement scored fleeting victories. Thai authorities dismantled a $620,000 fraud network spanning Cambodia and Myanmar, arresting key figures who laundered funds through Bangkok real estate.

In Nigeria, law enforcement arrested over 700 suspects, including 188 foreigners, in a cross-border crypto romance scam. Meanwhile, North Korean hackers stole $1.3 billion, and Haowang laundered $27 billion. As enforcement scored a point, crime kept winning the game.

Even as each bust made headlines, the system seems outmatched. The scams keep evolving, and the criminals continue to demonstrate frightening adaptability.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Criminals exploit Telegram’s loose controls by cloning channels and scattering operations to evade bans. Cryptocurrency helps them MOVE money freely. Mixers, privacy coins, and anonymous wallets muddy the trail, which results in law enforcement struggling to track or seize these hidden funds.

Special tools analyze blockchain transactions, linking addresses to known services like exchanges or mixers. Suspicious activity—such as rapid, large transfers to offshore platforms—gets flagged. For example, Elliptic’s research exposed Huione wallets funding USDH scams. AI adapts to new tricks like chain-hopping and cross-chain swaps, staying ahead of thieves.