Chinese Telegram Crypto Scams Now Outpace Dark Web Markets

Chinese-language Telegram markets now surpass dark web platforms, moving nearly $2 billion monthly in illicit crypto. These networks drive scams, laundering, and AI-driven deception, thriving despite repeated bans.

Chinese-language networks on Telegram have overtaken traditional dark web markets to become the largest illicit crypto economy globally. These groups, operating through public channels and escrow-like systems, facilitate scams, money laundering, and AI-driven deception at an industrial scale. Elliptic data reveals that Huione Guarantee, later rebranded as Haowang Guarantee, processed $27 billion between 2021 and 2025, with current dominant markets moving nearly $2 billion monthly—surpassing the lifetime volume of major dark web platforms like AlphaBay. The ecosystem supports pig-butchering scams, laundering services, fake investment platforms, and advanced AI tools for impersonation, with nearly all transactions settled in USDT. Despite repeated bans, these markets quickly relaunch and continue to thrive, largely operating from Southeast Asia and relying on trafficked labor. Telegram’s structure enables these activities to persist in plain sight, with enforcement efforts remaining fragmented.