Telegram Axes Cambodian Dark Market Haowang Guarantee in Platform Purge

Messaging giant Telegram slams the door on Haowang Guarantee—a shadowy Cambodian marketplace peddling everything from stolen data to illegal substances. The ban follows mounting pressure on platforms to crack down on illicit crypto-facilitated trade.

Another ’decentralized’ marketplace learns the hard way: even darknets can’t outrun Big Tech’s banhammer. Meanwhile, traditional banks quietly process 100x more dirty money—but hey, at least they file paperwork.

Haowang groups lost their safe haven on Telegram

Dark markets like Haowang Guarantee and a similar, but smaller platform Xinbi Guarantee lost their SAFE haven on Telegram, stated the chief scientist and co-founder of Elliptic, Tom Robinson. 

What next for online criminal markets?
Xinbi and Huione thought Telegram was a safe home. This turned out not to be true, and may spur the development of decentralised, censorship-resistant comms – alongside the censorship-resistant payments of crypto.https://t.co/m7aJ5hUOSJ

— Tom Robinson (@tomrobin) May 14, 2025

While the takedowns may not solve all crypto scams, the removal of Telegram groups in bulk may make a serious dent on the activity levels, as scamming tools WOULD have to be advertised on other platforms. 

A Telegram representative stated that the banned channels indeed originated from the Wired and Elliptic reports. Removing the channels that existed undisturbed for years may make a dent in crypto scams. However, there are signs that some of the groups may try to relaunch under new names, based on a search for ‘Haowang’ on Telegram.

The report discovered markets still offered money-laundering tools, technology, and other illicit goods, with a trading volume of up to $27B. Telegram still carries other storefronts selling exploit software and other dark market goods, but the app has started clearing away other similar channels outside of Haowang Guarantee.

Scammers have also used Haowang Guarantee to sell fake site templates that spoof crypto investments. Illegal site templates may be the main reason for theft from Coinbase accounts, revealing the far-reaching effects of dark markets for the world of crypto.

Despite the leads on fraud and laundering USDT, the shop fronts, groups and channels were allowed to exist for years on Telegram. The app, known for facilitating dark market deals, is now trying to clean up its image as it aims to expand on the US market. 

Haowang Group banned from US banking activities

Huione Group, the operator behind the Haowang Guarantee marketplace, has been banned from using the US banking system. The ban cites the Patriot act, finding instances of potential money-laundering, including a jurisdiction outside the USA and the confidential character of transactions. 

The market operator still relies on stablecoins, becoming one of the biggest users of USDT. The P2P nature of transfers makes laundering transfers nearly untraceable, as funds are reported as P2P sales. 

The darknet activity is one of the reasons for increased scrutiny of USDT wallets, though for now asset freezes make a small fraction of the total amount of stolen or hacked funds. Dark markets used various techniques of laundering, including no-KYC exchanges.

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