Telegram indulges in such practices, while Tether remains silent. It’s the largest black market carn

曾经，在线黑市隐藏在暗网的阴影之中。而如今，它们已转移至像Telegram这样的公共平台，并积累了历史性的非法财富。

十多年前，当毒品、枪支以及各种违禁品的黑市首次在暗网上兴起时，加密货币和匿名软件Tor的技术复杂性似乎是实现数十亿美元非法交易的关键手段。

然而到了2025年，这一切看起来已经有些过时了。如今，要完成数百亿美金的黑市加密交易，只需要一个愿意为诈骗者和人口贩子提供平台的消息应用、在被封禁时重新创建频道和账户的毅力，以及流利的中文能力。

根据加密追踪公司Elliptic的一份最新分析，基于Telegram消息服务的中文加密诈骗者市场生态系统如今已发展到前所未有的规模。尽管在2025年初Telegram封禁了两个最大的此类市场后曾短暂出现下滑，但目前的两个主要市场——“土豆担保”和“新币担保”，每月通过洗钱交易、销售诈骗工具(如被盗数据、虚假投资网站和AI换脸工具)、以及其他黑市服务(如代孕和青少年卖淫)等活动，共计实现近20亿美元的交易额。

Cryptocurrency-related romance scams and investment scams are notorious for their brutal "pig killing" schemes. These scams are primarily carried out from secret bases in Southeast Asia, where thousands of victims of human trafficking operate. According to statistics from the FBI, alone in the United States, such scams can rob people of approximately $10 billion each year, making it one of the most profitable forms of cybercrime worldwide.

By providing money laundering services and other related tools to these fraud organizations, markets like “pot guarantee” and “coin guarantee” have also rapidly expanded in size. Tom Robinson, co-founder and chief scientist at Elliptic, said, “If you consider the illegal use of cryptocurrency assets, there is nothing bigger than this.”

In fact, these criminal trading markets are not only the largest online black markets today, but also among the largest in history. The once dominant dark web market AlphaBay was known for dealing with drugs, stolen data, and hacking tools. According to the FBI, AlphaBay processed transactions worth over $1 billion during its two and a half years of operation, which is ten times the peak volume of the Silk Road dark web market. Meanwhile, the Russian dark web market Hydra managed to conduct transactions worth over $5 billion over its seven-year operation, providing money laundering services for cryptocurrency thieves and ransomware gangs.

相比之下，据Elliptic数据显示，中文电报群市场“汇旺担保”(Huione Guarantee)在2021年至2025年间，完成了惊人的270亿美元交易额，远远超过之前的所有在线黑市。即便其完全公开地在Telegram平台上运营，仍被称为“有史以来规模最大的非法在线市场”。

尽管Telegram在今年5月封禁了“汇旺担保”(当时已更名为“豪旺担保”)，其原因是美国财政部金融犯罪执法网络(FinCEN)将其列为洗钱操作平台，但市场并未因此消失。豪旺担保持有股份的“土豆担保”迅速填补了这一空缺。根据Elliptic的数据显示，目前土豆担保的月交易额已达11亿美元，与豪旺担保的每月14亿美元交易额相差无几。而排名第二的加密骗局市场“信币担保”，尽管也在5月被封禁并重新上线，但其月交易额已增至8.5亿美元。两大市场的交易总额甚至超过了以往的总市场规模，而Elliptic目前监控的类似市场多达约30个，这些市场每年总交易额达数百亿美元。

In June of this year, when the magazine WIRED contacted Telegram to discuss how these markets continue to operate within the public eye while maintaining their criminal activities, Telegram’s response sparked controversy. Telegram stated that they decided not to ban these markets, as they believe such markets provide Chinese users with a way to circumvent “capital controls.” These controls often leave citizens with no other option but to use other methods to transfer funds internationally. “We evaluate each case individually and firmly refuse to impose blanket bans—especially when users try to circumvent oppressive restrictions imposed by authoritarian regimes,” Telegram said in a statement to WIRED in June. “We are committed to protecting user privacy and defending basic freedoms, including financial autonomy.” This stance caused widespread criticism, and it raised questions about whether online crimes can be ignored under the banner of protecting privacy and freedom. Elliptic and other analysts in the field of fraud analysis strongly criticized Telegram’s views on maintaining market freedom, pointing out that most of the activities in markets like “potato guarantee” and “coin guarantee” are illegal. In addition to services related to fraud, these markets also involve prostitution. In some cases, posts involving coin guarantee even contained suggestive advertisements related to sexual transactions involving minors, such as services for “Lolita” or “young girls.” Moreover, customers of these fraudulent operations were also found to be working in exploitative conditions.

“They have the ability to shut down these fraudulent economies and human trafficking activities. But instead, they have become ‘job boards’ for cryptocurrency scammers,” said Erin West, former prosecutor in Santa Clara County, California, and current leader of the anti-fraud organization Operation Shamrock. “These criminals are using their bad platforms to facilitate actions by other criminals.” In addition to Telegram, another cryptocurrency company, Tether, also plays a key role in these fraudulent markets. This popular ‘stablecoin’ is the preferred tool for money laundering in these markets. Unlike most cryptocurrencies, Tether operates on a centralized structure, which means that the company behind it can freeze or confiscate funds at any time. However, the company hardly ever intervenes in the large-scale financial flows it supports. In response to WIRED’s inquiries about Tether’s role in illegal transactions involving ‘potato-backed’ and ‘stablecoin-backed’ currencies, neither Telegram nor Tether responded. Jacob Sims, a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Center for Asian Studies who specializes in transnational crime research, believes that Tether and Telegram’s efforts to curb the expansion of fraud industries are similar to the symbolic raids conducted by law enforcement agencies in Southeast Asia against fraud hubs. These law enforcement actions are often merely formalities, allowing fraud organizations to rebuild and continue their operations. “Lack of effective law enforcement at all levels leads to ineffective countermeasures,” said Sims.西姆斯还指出，只有通过国际政府和执法机构的集中合作，才能对这一现状产生实质性的改变。他将这种努力与全球打击恐怖主义或毒品交易的协调行动相提并论，认为同样的国际压力也应该施加在那些助长诈骗泛滥的公司身上。

“目前对这一日益严重的诈骗行业的反应，还未达到那种协调与紧迫的水平，”西姆斯说，“而只有在我们将其提升到与其造成的巨大损害相匹配的优先级时，问题才有可能得到解决。”