The gambling ring ran on the dark web and only accepted cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin, according to Guangdong police. The gambling platform operated for 8 months. They had 330,000 registered users from around the world and had 8,000 people paid on commissions to recruit new members.

In a separate statement on Thursday, Guangdong police said they had arrested a total of 540 suspects from over 20 gambling rings, and frozen 260 million yuan related to the criminal activities, in a special campaign to crack down on World Cup gambling.