Telegram has closed the illegal marketplace Haowang guarantee, former Huione guarantee, which has facilitated transactions of a total of over $ 27 billion in stablecoins since 2021.

Haowang was closed on the basis of insight provided by Blockchain Analytics company Elliptic on Tuesday.

The closure took place in the midst of a crash of thousands of suspected Chinese crypto crime channels operating on Telegram, following Elliptic’s report on marketplace Xinbi guarantee.

Telegram has now closed both Huione and Xinbi, which treated a total of $ 35 billion of illegal transactions in stableecoins, Elliptic wrote in a web post on Wednesday.

“Our analysis indicates that the Huione guarantee has facilitated transactions of a total of more than $ 27 billion since the launch of 2021, making it the largest illegal online marketplace ever operated,” Elliptic wrote.

Xinbi was the second largest after dealing with transactions worth $ 8.4 billion since 2022, Elliptic added.

For perspective, remarkable “dark web” treated marketplaces such as Silke Road and Alphabay respectively $ 216 million and $ 639 million respectively.

Such marketplaces operated historically through anonymous browser Tor, but have recently moved their operations to Telegram, the Messaging app with over a billion users.

Huione and Xinbi are referred to as a “guarantee” marketplaces, an expression designated for platforms that do not sell goods and services themselves, but provide a place for merchants to sell to customers.

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