{"id":2163,"date":"2025-06-05T14:07:56","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T14:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/banned-illicit-crypto-marketplaces-huione-and-xinbi-quietly-resurface-on-telegram\/"},"modified":"2025-06-05T14:07:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T14:07:57","slug":"banned-illicit-crypto-marketplaces-huione-and-xinbi-quietly-resurface-on-telegram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/banned-illicit-crypto-marketplaces-huione-and-xinbi-quietly-resurface-on-telegram\/","title":{"rendered":"Banned illicit crypto marketplaces Huione and Xinbi Quietly resurface on Telegram"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Banned by Telegram in May, the Huione and Xinbi Market channels have resurfaced under new names, TRM Labs said in a recent update.<\/p>\n

Despite Telegram\u2019s May 13 ban on the notorious Huione Guarantee and Xinbi Guarantee crypto marketplaces, both appear to have reemerged \u2014 according to blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs \u2014 following a familiar cybercrime pattern where shuttered platforms resurface under new names, new channels, or slightly altered forms.<\/p>\n

In a May 29 blog post<\/a>, TRM Labs revealed that despite Telegram\u2019s ban on Huione Guarantee\u2019s public-facing vendor channels, Huione Group is \u201cstill operating channels for its \u2018VIP\u2019 vendors on the platform.\u201d More than that, the Cambodia-based company has also relaunched its crypto exchange, which continues to process payments using its own USDH stablecoin.<\/p>\n

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Huione Group\u2019s re-emerged crypto exchange on Telegram | Source: TRM Labs<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TRM Labs also said it found indications that Xinbi Guarantee, banned the same day, had resumed activity on Telegram \u201cwithin days.\u201d Some vendors linked to Huione Guarantee and its wallet service, Huione Pay, were also active on Xinbi Guarantee, raising the possibility of shared infrastructure or close coordination between the two, the analysts note.<\/p>\n

These findings come despite recent enforcement steps. Just two weeks before the bans, the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network designated<\/a> Huione Group as a \u201cprimary money laundering concern.\u201d And on May 29, the Treasury\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Funnull Technology, a Philippines-based cyber scam operator reportedly linked to Huione\u2019s services.<\/p>\n

But enforcement efforts haven\u2019t fully pushed these networks completely underground as Telegram still functions as the main gateway for many such operations. And when bans do occur, operators often adapt quickly: new aliases, new channels, same methods.<\/p>\n

The rise of guarantee marketplaces<\/h2>\n

To understand the current landscape, it helps to know what guarantee marketplaces are, and why they matter.<\/p>\n

Unlike traditional darknet markets, platforms like Huione Guarantee and Xinbi Guarantee don\u2019t operate on Tor or in obscure corners of the internet. They function openly on Telegram and don\u2019t directly sell illicit goods. Instead, they facilitate transactions between buyers and vendors, mostly across Southeast Asia and China.<\/p>\n

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\n\"Banned\n<\/picture>
Directory of merchants on Huione Guarantee | Source: Elliptic<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The concept is straightforward: create a trusted environment for high-risk or illegal deals. Huione Guarantee served as a kind of escrow service. Vendors offered services ranging from SIM cards and fake IDs to surveillance equipment and fake investment platforms. Buyers browsed listings and paid in stablecoins like Tether (USDT).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

To maintain \u201ctrust,\u201d vendors were required to post a security deposit that could be forfeited in the event of fraud. Automated bots managed logistics, and all payments flowed through crypto, preserving user anonymity.<\/p>\n

As another blockchain firm Elliptic put it<\/a>, the marketplace administrator \u201ccontrols access and operates anti-fraud mechanisms such as merchant deposits (\u2018guarantees\u2019) and escrow services.\u201d The result, in effect, was a vast digital bazaar for cybercrime, running on stablecoins and encrypted chat apps.<\/p>\n

Huge money, bigger risks<\/h2>\n

These weren\u2019t marginal operations. TRM Labs said Huione facilitated at least $81 billion in crypto transactions since 2021.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s more than the infamous Hydra darknet market before it was shut down in 2022. Xinbi, by comparison, was tied to over $8.4 billion in USDT transactions since 2022. Combined, their volumes appear to surpass every other known illicit marketplace to date, including Silk Road and Alphabay.<\/p>\n

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\n\"Banned\n<\/picture>
Darknet marketplaces by their inflows | Source: Elliptic<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Telegram did take action. On May 13, the company removed several related channels and banned associated usernames, limiting vendors\u2019 ability to direct users to replacement groups. Still, Huione\u2019s team had contingencies in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe marketplace was ready \u2014 using backups to recreate the marketplace in new channels,\u201d Elliptic noted. One major Huione group dropped from over 800,000 members to around 250,000, but continued operating.<\/p>\n

Xinbi\u2019s operators seemed even more brazen, announcing a relaunch under the name \u201cXinbi 2.0.\u201d Some users reportedly expressed concern about a possible \u201cexit scam.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond fraud<\/h2>\n

While financial fraud and identity theft dominated activity on these platforms, some listings were more disturbing. TRM Labs and Elliptic identified vendors offering electric shock devices, metal restraints, and even women marketed as surrogates. Captions \u2014 apparently machine-translated \u2014 suggest some of these items were intended for use in scam compounds.<\/p>\n

The marketplaces were built to serve professionalized scam networks. Users didn\u2019t need to run an entire operation just purchase what they needed. SIM cards, malicious scripts, money laundering contacts, everything was on offer.<\/p>\n

With Telegram offering access to over a billion users and crypto enabling anonymity, the environment proved ideal, at least until it drew too much attention.<\/p>\n

Persistence over platform<\/h2>\n

The apparent resurgence of these markets underscores how adaptable such networks can be. After Telegram\u2019s enforcement action, some Huione-affiliated vendors migrated to Tudou Guarantee, a platform reportedly backed by Huione last year. According to TRM Labs, Tudou\u2019s user count jumped by nearly 30% in the aftermath.<\/p>\n

More moves could follow. TRM Labs noted that Huione Group and Xinbi-related operators are exploring alternatives to Telegram, such as ChatMe and SafeW, proprietary messaging platforms modeled on Telegram but free from third-party moderation. In effect, the ecosystem remains intact even if the surface names change.<\/p>\n

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Banned by Telegram in May, the Huione and Xinbi Market channels have resurfaced under new names, TRM Labs said in a recent update. Despite Telegram\u2019s May 13 ban on the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2163"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2165,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163\/revisions\/2165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}