Encryption and AI: The Hidden Digital Black Market
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Encryption and AI: The Hidden Digital Black Market
Encryption and AI, you can buy everything on Xianyu.
Web3業界の深掘り報道に専念し潮流を洞察Written by: San\Laoda, TechFlow
Search for "USDT" on Xianyu, and the page is blank. But change the keyword to "sell USD coin," and a hidden digital black market instantly unfolds.
Sellers use various homophones, code words, and images to evade platform regulation. "Those who know, know" is the passphrase here. Some hide contact information in the corners of pictures, while others directly post screenshots of exchange logos to prove they are "insiders."
Crypto assets, highly sensitive and strictly restricted in public discourse, have not truly disappeared. Instead, they have been disguised and folded into a more underground platform.
"Buying and selling USDT," "step-by-step guidance on downloading exchange apps," "overseas ID for passing exchange KYC," "Binance alpha tutorials"... Here, you can almost buy one-stop crypto trading guidance services.
The digital black market goes far beyond crypto-related content: discounted air tickets, hotel bookings, reservations at popular restaurants, concert floor seats, soldier AI verification...
On social media, there's a saying:
"You can buy almost anything on Xianyu."
This is not an exaggeration.
The Hidden Crypto Business
In October 2025, the official X account of the Republic of Palau's digital identity service issued a rare announcement in Chinese.
"Recently, it has been discovered that individuals are publicly displaying forged Palau identity documents on social media and using them to bypass KYC verification processes on various platforms. This behavior constitutes serious identity fraud." RNS.ID officially announced that it would conduct secondary reviews for all Palau ID users with Chinese pinyin names. Users who fail verification will be marked as fraudulent and added to the global fraud database.
Why would this Pacific island nation's government specifically issue a Chinese announcement? The answer lies in Xianyu's search results.
Search for keywords like "overseas identity" or "Palau ID," and you'll find an underground network trading fake documents. Prices range from tens to hundreds of yuan, with promises of "100% passing major exchange verifications."
Besides Palau, documents from Dominica, Nigeria, the Philippines, and other countries are also hot commodities. The quality of these fake documents is constantly improving. Sellers offer customization services, using the buyer's real photo to create fake IDs, ensuring they pass facial recognition.
Beyond selling fake IDs for KYC, the Xianyu crypto black market is filled with more zero-cost virtual services.
On Xianyu, an account named "Shenzhen Xiaoxia" once sold a 30-minute guidance service for "Binance and OKX download and installation" for 10 yuan. (Note: Currently removed)
"Xiaoxia" is no nobody. In the crypto world, this is a thunderous name, a top-tier KOL.
Not long ago, news of him buying the top-tier Shenzhen luxury apartment CITIC Xinyue Bay with a 60 million RMB debt was widely circulated in the industry.
Why would a crypto billionaire worth hundreds of millions personally do "customer service" business on Xianyu for 10 yuan per order?
The 10 yuan tutorial fee is just bait; the real income comes from referral commissions. Every user who registers through his link can bring him a share of transaction fees in the future. An active user might generate hundreds or even thousands of yuan in revenue per month.
This 10 yuan business is an extremely low-cost fishing rod. The other end of the rod connects to a vast, sustainably monetizable traffic pool.
If "Xiaoxia's" business is an open scheme, more sellers are doing purer "chiseling through the wall to steal light" deals on the wall of information asymmetry.
A product priced at 88 yuan, "Binance Alpha Beginner Tutorial," offers one-on-one online teaching, promising "hand-holding guidance, worry-free and effortless." The so-called "Alpha" typically refers to activities launched by platforms like Binance that allow users to earn potential airdrop rewards by completing tasks.
Participation methods for these activities have long been open secrets on platforms like X and YouTube, with countless bloggers sharing detailed guides for free. But for most domestic users, this wall built by language, internet environment, and information channels is very real.
One buyer commented, "The seller is very helpful, much more convenient than figuring it out myself."
AI "Arsenal"
If crypto trading is just a small "darkroom" opened in this folded space of Xianyu, then AI-related transactions are a truly massive,全民参与的 "digital arsenal."
When names like ChatGPT and Claude ignited the world, an invisible wall also rose. Complex registration processes, network environments, and the barrier of credit card payments kept the vast majority of curious Chinese users out. They could see the dazzling fireworks of the new world but couldn't find the entrance.
Xianyu unexpectedly became the folk path that bypassed the high wall.
The "arms dealers" here offer全套 services from入门 to精通.
The most basic product is "accounts." A ready-made GPT or Claude account sells for tens to over a hundred yuan, with follow-up monthly top-up services available.
Which overseas AI applications and large models are hottest in the market? Just look at Xianyu.
In 2025, when Manus—now acquired by Meta for $2 billion—burst onto the scene, beta access codes were extremely scarce. On Xianyu, the price of beta codes skyrocketed from a few hundred yuan initially to thousands, tens of thousands overnight. At its peak, someone even listed an astronomical price of "100,000 yuan," which helped Manus achieve widespread recognition.
Today, the hottest AI products on Xianyu are Gemini and ChatGPT.
The $20 monthly subscription fee for the高级 version is enough to dampen the enthusiasm of many ordinary people.
However, Google offers a one-year free benefit for在校 students, and OpenAI launched a福利活动 for U.S. veterans and active-duty military personnel, allowing them to claim one year of ChatGPT Plus for free. This small policy善意, on Xianyu, was developed by a group of敏锐的 sellers into a规模化 business.
Search for "soldier" on Xianyu, and a peculiar cyber景观 unfolds. Product covers feature various cartoon soldiers or tough-guy images, while product names are filled with默契-like jargon: "Soldier帮过!", "Soldier one-year plus成品号," with prices ranging from a few yuan to several dozen yuan.
A Xianyu user mentioned on social media: "Xianyu is currently the largest AI training base in the Chinese-speaking world. Without Xianyu, most Chinese people根本用不上 international first-tier AI models."
This statement is full of contradictions yet incredibly realistic.
Xianyu, a platform originally for trading second-hand goods, has thus inadvertently taken on the role of "enlightener" and "popularizer" for international first-tier AI models in China.
Buying Everything
Whether it's crypto trading or AI services, these are still just the tip of the iceberg of Xianyu's digital black market.
"Humanity has developed less than one percent of Xianyu's potential," someone评论道. Xianyu is the Chinese version of the dark web.
The "darkness" of Xianyu doesn't solely refer to black markets; it's more about the absurdity.大量捞偏门,生活中难以见到的 "underground industries" have taken root and sprouted on the platform.
Some products are so abstract, even匪夷所思, that they become sources of laughter on social media.
What to do if a worker遭遇恶意欠薪?
Someone went to Xianyu and found low-cost legal aid. Unexpectedly, the商家 directly sent out an over-80-year-old grandma to挺身出战, employing the tactics of crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide. The工资 arrived in three days.
Someone wanted to refund an air ticket and sought help on Xianyu,直接喜提一张 "death certificate."
On Xianyu, what we see is not just需求 and交易; it might be the most authentic田野调查 of the Chinese internet.
In this field, the most vigorous "wild wisdom" grows.
It doesn't follow the elegant rules of the商业 world; it only信奉 the最高纲领 of "solving problems." When正规渠道 cannot meet需求, or the cost is too high,民间创造力 gushes forth in a raw, even darkly humorous way.
Xianyu's digital black market presents a真实切片 of contemporary Chinese society. Here, there's no glossy brand packaging, but there are the most真实的人性切片:投机,取巧,懒惰,绝望, and the本能 to survive in the缝隙 of rules.
However, when the path to solving problems slides into deeper灰色地带, the标的物 of the transaction reaches its终点, people themselves.
If hiring an old lady is renting "someone else's performance," then the most dangerous business on Xianyu is renting "your own identity."
"Selling新人,交易所," "Stably回收交易所账号,已过 KYC,长期合作," "长期收新人扫码注册"... These kinds of notices赤裸地将 a person's KYC identity in the digital world打包出售. The sellers'话术 is极具诱惑力. Some包装 this behavior as "being a包租公 in the digital age," making users误以为 they are just盘活 "闲置资产,"轻松实现 "躺赚."
However, an account出租出售 by a小白 could become a作案工具 for电信诈骗 or洗钱团伙.
From buying a tutorial to buying an account; from hiring someone to solve your troubles to出租 yourself to the trouble itself. This光怪陆离的交易链 ultimately forms a可怕的闭环.
We start by using money to buy便利 and end up using ourselves to exchange for money.
This光怪陆离的数字土壤 is both the "民间基建" for ordinary people to bypass壁垒 and obtain资源, and a黑暗森林潜藏着无数陷阱. It proves in the most extreme way that any压抑的需求 will not disappear; it will only破土而出 in corners untouched by rules, in more原始, more危险 ways.
Here,便利 and代价 are marked with the same price. You think you're just taking a shortcut, only to find that the end of the shortcut might also be a悬崖.
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