Telegram has shut down the illicit marketplace Haowang Guarantee, formerly Huione Guarantee, which has facilitated transactions totaling over $27 billion in stablecoins since 2021.

Haowang was shut down based on insights provided by blockchain analytics firm Elliptic on Tuesday.

The closure took place amidst a crackdown on thousands of suspected Chinese crypto-crime channels operating on Telegram, following Elliptic’s report into marketplace Xinbi Guarantee.

Telegram has now shut down both Huione and Xinbi, which processed a combined $35 billion of illicit transactions in stablecoins, Elliptic wrote in a web post on Wednesday.

«Our analysis indicates that Huione Guarantee has facilitated transactions totalling more than $27 billion since launching in 2021, making it the largest illicit online marketplace to have ever operated,» Elliptic wrote.

Xinbi was the second largest, having processed transactions worth $8.4 billion since 2022, Elliptic added.

For perspective, notable «dark web» marketplaces such as the Silk Road and Alphabay processed $216 million and $639 million respectively.

Such marketplaces historically operated through anonymous browser Tor, but have more recently shifted their operations to Telegram, the messaging app with over a billion users.

Huione and Xinbi are referred to as «guarantee» marketplaces, a term designated for platforms that do not sell goods and services themselves, but provide a venue for merchants to sell to customers.

Read More: 1 in 5 Cross-Chain Crypto Investigations Involve More Than 10 Blockchains, Elliptic Finds

Bitcoin’s (BTC) dominance rate has dropped notably this month, sparking hopes for a full-blown alt season or period where the bull market spreads beyond BTC, lifting valuations in other sectors of the digital assets market.

Joao Wedson, CEO and founder of crypto data analysis platform Alphractal, expects a full-blown alt season to unfold in June.

Bitcoin’s dominance rate, which measures the leading cryptocurrency’s share of the total digital assets market, has dropped from roughly 65% to 62% in one week, ending a prolonged five-month uptrend, according to data source TradingView.

During the same time, the total crypto market capitalization has increased from $2.90 trillion to $3.24 trillion.

The contrast suggests a shift in investor interest from bitcoin toward alternative cryptocurrencies.

Per Wedson, the altcoin season is already underway and the BTC dominance is expected to decline rapidly in the coming months. Wedson’s proprietary altcoin season index, which focuses on select 57 altcoins, shows 37 of those coins have outperformed BTC in the past 60 days.

«Even if BTC drops in the coming weeks, most altcoins have already bottomed out, and it’s unlikely they’ll fall below recent price levels. Part of bitcoin’s $2 trillion market cap is likely to flow into altcoins. So make sure to analyze your altcoin against BTC pairs (e.g., ETH/BTC or COTI/BTC),» Wedson said on a detailed post on X.

However, broader measures suggest the bull market has yet to expand beyond BTC. For instance, CoinMarketCap’s altcoin index, which focuses on top 100 coins, remains stuck at 27 to suggest «bitcoin season.»

Read more: Crypto Daybook Americas: PEPE Signals Altcoin Frenzy as Rampant Ether Outpaces Bitcoin

ARK Invest didn’t wait around to add eToro (ETOR) to its portfolio.

Cathie Wood’s St Petersburg, California-based investment management company bought 140,000 shares in eToro on the stock-and-crypto trading platform’s Nasdaq debut on Wednesday.

ARK’s ETOR allocation is worth just under $9.4 million, based on the closing price of $67. The shares rose 29% on the first day of trading after opening at $52, which itself was significantly higher than the marketed range as eToro received much higher demand than anticipated.

ARK added the eToro shares to its Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF), one of three funds the firm uses for a significant portion of exposure to crypto and crypto-adjacent companies, such as Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD).

The other two ETFs are Next Generation Internet (ARKW) and Innovation (ARKK).

Read more: EToro Stock Surges 29% on First Day of Trading