The Chinese are transforming Telegram, which is slowly becoming the foundation of the world's largest illegal cryptocurrency economy.
Some organized Chinese groups have outpaced the dark web. They combine traditional fraud and those driven by artificial intelligence and money laundering into one system.
Telegram markets now surpass historical giants of the dark web.
The scale is unprecedented. Elliptic data shows that Huione Guarantee, later renamed Haowang Guarantee, processed $27 billion between 2021 and 2025.
This amount exceeds any larger darknet platform in history.
When Telegram blocked Huione in May, activity moved elsewhere. Today, two markets dominate:
Tudou Guarantee: about 1.1 billion USD per month
Xinbi Guarantee: about 850 million USD per month
The total monthly volume exceeds the entire historical performance of AlphaBay.
The Chinese are turning Telegram into the dark web
Telegram offers public channels, deposit systems, and instant global reach. Users do not need a Tor browser or technical knowledge.
Markets replicate classic darknet functions:
seller reputation systems
deposit and dispute resolution
settlements in stablecoins
quick brand changes after bans
In practice, Telegram has become a 'frictionless darknet.'
Crypto fraud markets drive global scams
These markets do not sell drugs or weapons en masse but offer fraud infrastructure.
The main clients are participants in pig-butchering fraud schemes. According to federal data in the USA, these long-term romantic and investment scams generate about 10 billion USD annually just among victims in the USA.
Activity is concentrated in Southeast Asia. Many scams are based on forced labor in scam camps.
Markets on Telegram offer:
money laundering services
fake investment platforms
stolen identities
telecommunication tools and social engineering
Therefore, the fraud sector and markets are growing together.
AI tools for face-swapping – their role in scams
A key accelerator is artificial intelligence. Chinese-speaking groups on Telegram actively sell:
real-time face-swapping software
voice cloning tools
sets of fake identities
These tools enable scammers to impersonate real people during video calls. They significantly increase trust and conversion rates.
Threat analysts call this the industrialization of social engineering. Therefore, scams today operate like on an assembly line.
The Chinese are changing Telegram, and USDT is the financial backbone
Almost all transactions settle in Tether (USDT). Unlike decentralized cryptocurrencies, USDT can be frozen. This possibility exists, but it is rarely applied on a large scale.
The most centralized stablecoin supports the largest illegal cryptocurrency markets in history. This dependency concentrates risk in the areas of fraud, money laundering, and cross-border financial crimes.
Telegram has previously removed large markets. New ones always emerged after a few weeks. Moreover, ownership shares change between markets, and liquidity appears instantly.
Elliptic is monitoring about 30 Chinese-speaking Telegram markets today. Together, they transfer tens of billions of USD annually, mainly through cryptocurrencies. Moreover, enforcement actions are scattered and inconsistent.
This is no longer a marginal story about cybercrime.
Public communication platforms have begun to serve a global illegal finance on a massive scale. Language networks matter more than geography. It turns out that tools are transforming the crime sector.
The result is a criminal ecosystem larger than anything produced by the dark web. Moreover, it operates completely openly.
Without coordinated action from the platform, stablecoin controls, and law enforcement, this system will continue to grow.
To learn about the latest cryptocurrency market analysis from BeInCrypto, click here.