In a wild turn of events, Telegram has quietly wiped out what might be the largest black market in internet history — shutting down two massive crypto crime networks: Haowang Guarantee and Xinbi Guarantee. These shady operations were running right under everyone's nose *on Telegram itself*, moving over **\$35 billion** in dirty crypto tied to money laundering, fake identities, stolen data, and even sex trafficking.
The crackdown came after a deep dive by blockchain analytics firm **Elliptic** and an explosive investigation by *WIRED*, revealing the jaw-dropping scale of these digital crime empires. Haowang (formerly Huione Guarantee) went dark on May 13, blaming Telegram for banning its groups, channels, and even usernames (sold as NFTs). This wasn’t just a sketchy marketplace — it was a full-blown criminal ecosystem, allegedly connected to Cambodia’s power elite and even laundering money for North Korean hackers.
But here’s the kicker — despite the massive takedown, the bad actors aren’t going quietly. Haowang’s masterminds are already rebuilding under a new name, **Tudou Guarantee**, while **Xinbi Guarantee** is plotting a comeback as "Xinbi 2.0". With billions on the line, they’re betting on Telegram letting its guard down — or worse, they may shift to decentralized apps where rules are even looser.
Experts say this is a *huge* blow to global cybercrime, but far from the end. Think of it as a digital cat-and-mouse game —
only these mice are cashing out in billions. As Elliptic’s Tom Robinson put it: *“This was the biggest dark-net market ever. Shutting it down is huge, but make no mistake — they’ll try to bounce back.”*
Whether Telegram keeps up the pressure or criminals find a new playground, one thing’s for sure: the crypto underworld just got shaken — and the war on digital crime has entered a whole new phase.
