Darknet Marketplaces Uptick After Huione Shutdown

The shuttering of major crypto darknet marketplace Huione Guarantee has seen its users flock to at least 30 successors, with one marketplace doubling its user base since May. 

Huione Guarantee shut down in May after Telegram messaging service banned thousands of its associated accounts and channels. 

Elliptic said in a report on Monday that in the aftermath of the shutdown, several Telegram marketplaces saw user numbers increase, but Tudou Guarantee was the “primary winner,” capturing much of Huione’s former transaction volume.

“Tudou Guarantee has seen users more than double — and cryptocurrency inflows are now approximately equal to those seen for Huione Guarantee prior to its shutdown,” Elliptic said.

Merchants make the switch, too

Along with users, merchants who formerly operated on Huione Guarantee have also moved to Tudou, offering stolen data, money laundering services, illicit goods and other products for scammers to snare victims. 

Along with Tudou, Elliptic is tracking over 30 other Telegram-based dark markets that experienced an uptick in users and volume after the Huione Guarantee shut down.

“The closure of Huione Guarantee has created an opportunity for many of these competitors to fill the gap,” Elliptic said.

Huione Guarantee is also a major shareholder in Tudou after acquiring a 30% stake last December, according to Elliptic.

Elliptic reiterates Huione Guarantee is dead

Analysts at blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis have reported that activity linked to Huione Guarantee since the so-called “shutdown” hasn’t declined but instead grown.

However, Elliptic said there may be a mix-up with Huione Guarantee and Huione Group’s other businesses, most notably Huione Pay, a large payments business with brick-and-mortar outlets across Cambodia that also accepts crypto as a payment option and helps launder the proceeds of online scams.

Elliptic said while Huione Guarantee continued to offer escrow services for private transactions following the shutdown, even those related Tether (USDT) transactions have “dropped to negligible levels” by late May.

“By analyzing blockchain transactions at a more granular level, it is clear that, although Huione Pay continues to transact high volumes, Huione Guarantee’s transactions have effectively ceased,” Elliptic said.

Related: AI-driven crypto crime is only just beginning — Elliptic report

Cambodian conglomerate Huione Group is responsible for a network of businesses, which includes the payment service platform Huione Pay PLC, the crypto exchange Huione Crypto and Haowang Guarantee.

Dark market ecosystem still growing

Taking down Huione Guarantee sent “shockwaves through the guarantee market ecosystem,” Elliptic said; however, it has only allowed others to take advantage of the power vacuum and grow their operations.

“It will require wider, ongoing removal of these marketplaces from Telegram if these key enablers of the global scam epidemic are to be stopped,” Elliptic said. 

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