Telegram’s Dark Market Thrives Even After Huione’s $27B Crackdown – Elliptic Report

Shadow economies pivot faster than regulators can react. While Huione's $27B ban made headlines, Telegram's encrypted channels keep the crypto underworld buzzing.

Subheader: The Hydra Effect

Cut off one head, two grow back. Dark markets migrated to Telegram within hours of enforcement—proving blockchain's 'immutable' ledger is no match for human ingenuity.

Subheader: Regulatory Whack-a-Mole

Elliptic's latest findings expose the farce: compliance teams chase yesterday's tactics while OTC desks bypass KYC with emoji-laden order books. Meanwhile, Wall Street still can't settle trades in under three days.

Closer: Until accountability moves at blockchain speed, the cat-and-mouse game continues—with your pension fund's 'risk-adjusted returns' footing the bill.

Distinct payment rail from Huione Pay

Observers sometimes confuse Huione Guarantee with Huione Pay, a Cambodia-based payment firm still processing large USDT volumes. 

Elliptic separated the two through wallet analysis and noted that Huione Pay’s traffic remained high even after FinCEN labeled the parent Huione Group “” and proposed cutting its US access.

Elliptic tracked more than 30 active Guarantee markets and warned about fake venues that target inexperienced criminals. 

Tudou led the post-shutdown surge, but smaller competitors also gained users as merchants duplicated listings across platforms.

Ecosystem adapts to channel bans

The closure of the Huione Guarantee sent temporary shock waves through a network of hundreds of thousands of scammers, intermediaries, and brokers across Southeast Asia and China. 

Elliptic’s data showed no enduring decline in overall Guarantee-market volume one month later, indicating that liquidity migrated swiftly to replacement channels.

The report concluded that coordinated, sustained, removals will be required to disrupt an ecosystem built on Telegram escrow and USDT settlements. 

Huione Guarantee’s downfall disrupted one node, but the broader dark market structure continues to expand within the messaging app.