Crypto Scam Markets Bounce Back Despite Telegram’s Purge—Here’s Why
Telegram’s crackdown on crypto scams was supposed to clean house. Instead, fraudsters just moved next door.
The Hydra Effect
Shut down one channel, three more pop up. Scammers are bypassing Telegram’s cleanup with burner accounts and encrypted backups—turning decentralization against itself.
Pump-and-Dump 3.0
New ‘private’ groups now require VIP invites—filtering out nosy journalists while keeping the suckers… sorry, ‘investors’—locked in. Classic hedge fund tactics, just with worse suits.
The Bottom Line
Until platforms treat scams like a protocol exploit—with hard forks and slashed stakes—the house always wins. And in crypto? The house is literally everyone.
Complex connections
The report reveals a complex ecosystem where Elliptic is currently tracking over thirty highly active markets, many seeking to fill the gap left by Huione's closure.
Elliptic had previously identified Tudou as a potential successor in earlier research, and the Monday report confirmed these predictions.
Other platforms, such as Shuangying and Fully Light, also recorded steady growth, with Shuangying increasing from around 40,000 to 110,000 transactions and Fully Light rising from 20,000 to over 80,000 by mid-June.
These platforms facilitate trade in technology, data, and money laundering services used by online scammers, with vendors explicitly advertising services for "pig butchering" fraud targeting Western victims.
“It will require wider, ongoing removal of these marketplaces from Telegram if these key enablers of the global scam epidemic are to be stopped,” Elliptic said.
Decrypt has approached Telegram for comment.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
