November 17 2025
Chinese darknet marketplace Haowang Guarantee has decided to cease operations, and for good reason. Popular messaging app Telegram has blocked thousands of accounts that were essential to the operation of Haowang. The platform, formerly known as Huione Guarantee, has been linked to large-scale crypto fraud and cybercrime for years.
On May 13, 2025, Telegram put the brakes on thousands of accounts that served as the digital backbone for Haowang. In an official statement, the marketplace announced that all NFTs, channels, and groups on Telegram are now inaccessible, hastening the end of its service.
Haowang Guarantee played a crucial role in illicit crypto transactions. The platform is said to have facilitated as much as $27 billion in criminal payments, mainly using the Tether stablecoin (USDT). Under its former name Huione, it is even estimated to have processed over $98 billion in crypto transactions. Haowang's offerings were wide-ranging; from money laundering schemes to identity theft and even deepfake software aimed at fraud in Southeast Asia. The closure of Haowang is an important step forward in the fight against online fraud.
Close to the shutdown, there was pressure from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which had classified Haowang as a money laundering network. This led to the platform being shut down from the US banking system. In addition, Elliptic discovered another criminal marketplace on Telegram, Xinbi Guarantee, which is also estimated to have processed $8,4 billion in transactions and is also suspected of money laundering.
Haowang and Xinbi are part of a global underground banking system. Stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies are widely used for large-scale money laundering. The closure of Haowang Guarantee is not only an important victory in the fight against these networks, but also serves as a stark reminder that we are far from done with the problem. They remain dirty games in the corner of the crypto market.
Why did Haowang Guarantee cease its operations?
Due to the blocking of thousands of accounts on Telegram, which were essential to its functioning, Haowang Guarantee could no longer provide its services.
What was Haowang Guarantee's role in the crypto market?
Haowang Guarantee was a major facilitator of illicit crypto transactions, handling an estimated $27 billion in criminal payments.
What does Haowang's closure mean for the future of such marketplaces?
The closure is a major victory in the fight against online crime, but it also shows that we still have a long way to go to fully tackle this problem.
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