Chinese networks on Telegram have become the foundation of the world's largest illegal crypto economy.
These groups have gone beyond the dark web by combining fraud, AI-driven scams, and money laundering into a single system.
Telegram markets are now much larger than historical Dark Web giants
The scale is entirely new. Elliptic data shows that Huione Guarantee, which later became Haowang Guarantee, handled 27 billion USD between 2021 and 2025.
That amount is greater than all major dark web markets ever.
When Telegram shut down Huione in May, the activity moved on. Now two markets dominate:
Tudou Guarantee: about 1.1 billion USD per month
Xinbi Guarantee: about 850 million USD per month
Together, their monthly volume exceeds what AlphaBay handled throughout its entire lifetime.
Why Telegram replaced the Dark Web
Telegram offers open channels, services similar to secure payment, and immediate global reach. Users do not need a Tor browser or technical knowledge.
The markets have features from classic darknet sites:
Seller ratings and reputations
Secure payment and dispute resolution
Payment with stable cryptocurrencies
Quick name change after shutdowns
In practice, Telegram has become a 'dark web without barriers.'
Crypto-fraud markets feed a global scam industry
These markets do not sell drugs or weapons on a large scale, but they sell fraud tools.
The main customers are in 'pig-butchering' scams. These long-term romance and investment frauds yield around 10 billion USD annually just from American victims, according to government data.
Most frauds occur in Southeast Asia. Many use forced labor in closed complexes.
Telegram markets offer:
Money laundering services
Fake investment platforms
Stolen identities
Tools for phone and social manipulation
The fraud economy and markets are growing together.
AI tools for face swapping make fraud easier
A crucial factor is artificial intelligence. Telegram's Chinese groups actively sell:
Software for real-time face swapping
Tools for voice imitation
Packages with fake identities
Such tools enable scammers to pretend to be someone else on video calls. They quickly increase trust and the number of victims being deceived.
Experts say this is an industrialization of social manipulation. Fraud now operates as effectively as factories.
USDT is the financial backbone
Almost all transactions are conducted with Tether (USDT). Unlike decentralized cryptocurrencies, USDT can be frozen. This capability is rarely used on a large scale.
Therefore, the most centrally governed stable cryptocurrency will become the foundation for the largest illegal crypto markets to date. This causes risks to accumulate within fraud, money laundering, and cross-border cheating.
Telegram has previously removed major markets, but new replacements emerge within just a few weeks.
Ownership is transferred between different markets. Liquidity follows directly.
Elliptic is now tracking around 30 Telegram markets in Chinese. Together, they generate tens of billions USD per year, mostly via crypto.
Measures against this are fragmented and uneven.
This is no longer a niche cybercrime.
Public messaging platforms now host large-scale global illegal finance. Language-based networks are more important than geography, and the tools are changing the fraud economy.
Now we have a criminal ecosystem larger than anything the dark web has created. It operates openly.
Without cooperation between platforms, stable cryptocurrencies, and authorities, this system will continue to grow.