The post Huione-Linked Illicit Crypto Escrow Tudou Guarantee Appears to Shut Down appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

A Telegram-based escrow service linked to an illicit online marketplace appears to be winding down operations after refunding more than $130 million in stablecoins, a move that analysts say may disrupt a major hub for crypto-related scams. Tudou Guarantee, a service linked to the Huione Group, has apparently refunded $130 million in Tether USDt (USDT) to the group’s public merchants since the beginning of 2026, according to data shared by blockchain analytics company Bitrace. Refunds began with about $3.7 million on Jan. 1 and peaked at about $18.1 million on Sunday, Bitrace said. Earlier on Friday, the company seemingly announced the shuttering of operations through its Telegram channel, according to screenshots shared by Bitrace. Huione Group is a Cambodia-based financial conglomerate that operates payment service Huione Pay and crypto exchange Huione Crypto, along with Huione Guarantee. Source: Bitrace Related: Short squeeze hits top 500 cryptos as traders unwind bearish bets Refunds signal potential scam slowdown The development may lead to a slowdown in phishing and pig butchering scams, which were previously offered as a service by hundreds of vendors on the marketplace. In December, an investor lost their entire Bitcoin (BTC) retirement fund in an artificial intelligence-fueled romance scam, where the con artists used prolonged emotional manipulation to convince the investors to transfer their funds. Source: Bitrace Phishing scams became the second-largest threat after supply-chain breaches, costing crypto investors a cumulative $722 million across 248 incidents in 2025, according to blockchain security firm CertiK. Related: Monero climbs to new high of $687 as crypto surveillance tightens Elliptic uncovers $89 billion crypto, thousands of wallets tied to fraudster marketplace Elliptic previously uncovered thousands of wallet addresses associated with Tudou Guarantee’s vendors and operations to help users steer clear of this entity.  The blockchain security company also flagged $89 billion in crypto…

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Filed under: News - @ January 16, 2026 10:25 pm