The Internet's Biggest-Ever Black Market Just Shut Down Amid a Telegram Purge

Quick Summary:

Following a WIRED inquiry, Telegram banned thousands of accounts used for crypto scam money laundering, including those of Haowang Guarantee, a black market that enabled over $27 billion in transactions.

Since July of last year, Elliptic has highlighted the enormous volume of money laundering and other illicit transactions taking place on Huione Guarantee and later Haowang Guarantee.

Elliptic says that Haowang Guarantee's owners also own a stake in another similar Telegram-based market called Tudou Guarantee, according to a Telegram post from one of Haowang's administrators, and may seek to rebuild their business there.

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Article Details

Author / Journalist: Andy Greenberg

Category: TechnologyEconomy

Markets: United StatesCambodiaChinaNorth KoreaMyanmarPhilippines

Topics: Security / Security News Security

Source Website Secure: Yes (HTTPS)

News Sentiment: Neutral

Fact Checked: Legitimate

Article Type: News Report

Published On: 2025-05-14 @ 20:00:00 (1 days ago)

News Timezone: GMT +8:00

News Source URL: wired.com

Language: English

Article Length: 1595 words

Reading Time: 9 minutes read

Sentences: 57 lines

Sentence Length: 28 words per sentence (average)

Platforms: Desktop Web, Mobile Web, iOS App, Android App

Copyright Owner: © Wired

News ID: 28718776

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Official Website: wired.com

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