Tudou Guarantee Shuts Down After $130 Million Refunds

Tudou Guarantee, an escrow service linked to an illicit marketplace, ceases operations

Tudou Guarantee, a service associated with the Huione group, appears to be closing its operations after refunding over $130 million in Tether USDt (USDT) to the group’s public merchants starting in 2026, according to data provided by blockchain analysis company Bitrace. Refunds began at approximately $3.7 million on January 1 and peaked at about $18.1 million on Sunday, Bitrace reported. On Friday, the company apparently announced its cessation of operations through its Telegram channel, according to screenshots shared by Bitrace.

This development could lead to a slowdown in phishing scams and "pig butchering" schemes that were previously offered as services by hundreds of providers on this marketplace. In December, an investor lost their entire retirement savings in Bitcoin (BTC) in a romance scam fueled by artificial intelligence, where scammers used prolonged emotional manipulation to convince investors to transfer their funds.

Phishing scams have become the second-largest threat after supply chain breaches, costing cryptocurrency investors a total of $722 million across 248 incidents in 2025, according to blockchain security company CertiK.

In September 2024, the marketplace launched a dollar-backed stablecoin as part of its latest cryptocurrency initiative, following the introduction of a blockchain, a cryptocurrency exchange, and a messaging app. Tudou Guarantee was the rebranding of Huione Guarantee after Elliptic exposed it as a multi-billion dollar marketplace for online scammers in July 2024. The Huione group is a financial conglomerate based in Cambodia, operating the Huione Pay payment service and Huione Crypto exchange, alongside Huione Guarantee.