Crypto black market on Telegram reaches $2 billion/month for Chinese users

Telegram is currently operating the largest recorded black market crypto economy, with Chinese-speaking users transacting approximately $2 billion USD per month.

According to an investigation report released by Elliptic this week, easy access to Telegram, the ability for censored channels to quickly resume activity, and Chinese-language censorship systems have replaced the technical barriers once characteristic of darknet crime.

Elliptic estimates that a market called Huione Guarantee alone circulated about $27 billion USD from 2021 to 2025.

Telegram scam markets hit record monthly trading volumes

Elliptic identified two markets, Tudou Guarantee and Xinbi Guarantee, which now serve as the central hubs of this ecosystem. Together, these platforms facilitate nearly $2 billion USD in crypto transactions each month, involving money laundering services, stolen personal data sales, fake investment websites, and AI deepfake tools. The listings also include surrogacy services and advertisements related to underage prostitution.

These markets provide infrastructure for large-scale romance and investment scams, often referred to as “pig butchering (mổ heo).” Most of these operations run from complexes in Cambodia and Myanmar, where thousands of victims are forced into labor. The FBI estimates that alone, victims in the US lose about $10 billion USD annually to these scams. By selling money laundering services and operational tools to these networks, Tudou Guarantee and Xinbi Guaran