Crypto and AI, the Hidden Digital Black Market of Xianyu
Written by: Umbrella\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, coded language, 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 grassroots platform.
"Buying and selling USDT," "step-by-step guidance on downloading exchange apps," "overseas IDs for exchange KYC," "Binance alpha tutorials"... Here, you can almost buy one-stop crypto trading guidance services.
The digital black market extends far beyond crypto-related content: discounted air tickets, hotel bookings, reservations at popular restaurants, concert floor seats, military AI verification...
On social media, an evaluation circulates:
"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 program 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 on all Palau ID users with Chinese pinyin names. Users who fail verification will be marked as fraudsters and synchronized with the global fraud database.
Why did this Pacific island nation's government specifically issue a Chinese announcement? The answer lies in Xianyu's search results.
Entering keywords like "overseas identity" or "Palau ID" reveals an underground network for trading fake documents. Prices range from tens to hundreds of yuan, promising "100% pass rate for major exchange verifications."
Besides Palau, documents from Dominica, Nigeria, the Philippines, and other countries are also hot commodities. The production quality of these fake documents is constantly improving. Sellers offer customization services, using the buyer's real photos to create fake IDs to ensure 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 delisted)
"Xiaoxia" is not a nobody. In the crypto world, this is a thunderous name, a top-tier KOL.
Not long ago, news of him buying Shenzhen's top luxury mansion, CITIC Xinyue Bay, with a debt of 60 million RMB was still widely circulated in the industry.
Why would a crypto billionaire with assets worth hundreds of millions personally engage in "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 transaction fee splits 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 engaged in a purer form of "stealing light through a hole in the wall" on the barrier of information asymmetry.
A product priced at 88 yuan, "Binance Alpha Beginner Tutorial," offers one-on-one online teaching, promising "hands-on 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. However, for most domestic users, the 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."
The AI "Arsenal"
If crypto's digital transactions are merely a small "darkroom" carved out in Xianyu's folded space, then the trade in AI is a truly massive, nationwide "digital arsenal."
When names like ChatGPT and Claude ignited globally, an invisible wall also rose. Complex registration processes, network environments, and barriers to 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 circumvented the high wall.
The "arms dealers" here offer comprehensive services from beginner to expert.
The most basic commodity is "accounts." A ready-to-use GPT or Claude account sells for anywhere from tens to over a hundred yuan, with subsequent monthly top-up services available.
Which overseas AI applications and large models are hottest in the market? Just look at Xianyu.
In 2025, when the AI application 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 also contributed to Manus's massive breakout beyond its niche.
Currently, the hottest AI products on Xianyu are Gemini and ChatGPT.
The $20 monthly subscription fee for the premium version is enough to dampen the enthusiasm of many ordinary people.
However, Google offers a one-year free benefit for enrolled students, and OpenAI launched a welfare program for U.S. military veterans and active-duty personnel, offering a free year of ChatGPT Plus. This small policy goodwill was developed by a group of keen-scented sellers on Xianyu into a scaled business.
Searching for "soldier" on Xianyu reveals a peculiar cyber landscape. Product covers feature various cartoon soldiers or tough-guy images, while product names are filled with jargon-like默契: "Soldier help pass!", "Soldier one-year plus ready account," 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 simply wouldn't have access to top-tier international AI models."
This statement is full of contradictions, yet incredibly realistic.
Xianyu, a platform originally intended for trading second-hand goods, has thus inadvertently taken on the role of "enlightener" and "popularizer" for top-tier international 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 commented, calling Xianyu the Chinese version of the dark web.
Xianyu's "darkness" doesn't solely refer to black markets; it's more about absurdity. A large number of shady, hard-to-find "underground industries" in daily life have taken root and sprouted on the platform.
Some products are so abstract, even unbelievable, that they become sources of amusement on social media.
What to do if a worker faces malicious wage arrears?
Someone went to Xianyu and found low-cost legal aid. Unexpectedly, the merchant directly dispatched an over-80-year-old grandmother to the front lines. With tears, tantrums, and threats, the wages arrived in three days.
Someone wanting to refund an airline ticket sought help on Xianyu and directly received a "death certificate."
On Xianyu, what we see is not just demand and transactions; perhaps it's the most authentic field research of the Chinese internet.
This field grows the most vigorous "wild wisdom."
It doesn't follow the elegant rules of the commercial world, only信奉 the highest principle of "solving problems." When正规 channels cannot meet需求, or the cost is too high,民间 creativity gushes forth in a raw, even darkly humorous way.
Xianyu's digital black market presents a true slice of contemporary Chinese society. Here, there's no glossy brand packaging, but there are the most authentic slices of human nature:投机, cutting corners, laziness, despair, and the instinct to survive in the cracks of the rules.
However, when the path to solving problems slides into deeper gray areas, the subject of the transaction reaches its endpoint: the person 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, exchange," "Stable回收 exchange accounts, KYC passed, long-term cooperation," "Long-term收购新人扫码注册"... Such notices赤裸地 package and sell a person's KYC identity in the digital world. The sellers' pitches are highly enticing. Some package this behavior as "landlords of the digital age," making users误以为 they are merely activating "idle assets" to轻松实现 "passive income."
However, an account rented or sold by a novice could become a tool for telecom fraud or money laundering gangs.
From buying a tutorial to buying an account; from hiring someone to solve your troubles to renting yourself out to trouble itself. This bizarre交易链 ultimately forms a terrifying闭环.
We start by using money to buy convenience and end up exchanging ourselves for money.
This bizarre digital soil is both the "民间基建" for ordinary people to bypass barriers and obtain resources, and a dark forest潜伏 with countless traps. It proves in the most extreme way that any suppressed demand will not disappear; it will only break through in corners untouched by rules, in more primitive, more dangerous ways.
Here, convenience and cost are labeled 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 cliff.
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