US authorities restrained about USD 52 million in scam-linked cryptocurrency in one day and seized Telegram channels tied to Xinbi Guarantee. Treasury sanctions and Justice Department wallet actions landed the same day.
Elliptic said years of tracking Xinbi wallets helped the US Secret Service act against the Chinese-language marketplace. Xinbi serves scam-center operators and vendors across Telegram.
Xinbi vendors advertise fraud websites, money laundering services, and recruitment for scam compounds in Southeast Asia. Elliptic first exposed the marketplace in May 2025. The blockchain analytics firm now counts at least USD 24 billion in Xinbi transactions since 2022. That total ranks behind Huione Guarantee, which handled USD 31 billion before closing in 2025.
Xinbi Pay, a linked payments arm, processed another USD 6 billion. Most of that activity used Tether's USDT on the TRON blockchain. The United Kingdom sanctioned Xinbi in March 2026. Prosecutors seized two Xinbi payment wallets holding about USD 12 million and moved against 47 additional wallets. The Justice Department also credited Tether for assisting the operation.
At the same time, the Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Xinbi a significant transnational criminal organization. OFAC also designated two entities that supported the marketplace.
Can Xinbi keep operating as authorities seize its channels, wallets, and linked assets across several jurisdictions?
Xinbi rejected the freezes and said it would compensate customers. The marketplace then exchanged about USD 2.8 million in remaining USDT for Decentralized USD, or USDD. USDD does not include an issuer freeze function. Still, Elliptic said the stablecoin holds part of its backing in USDT, which issuers can freeze.
The move followed earlier pressure from Britain. UK sanctions froze assets connected to Xinbi and blocked the platform from British financial, trade, and travel networks. Guarantee marketplaces depend on merchants leaving funds with the platform. The latest seizures showed that authorities can reach deposits linked to tracked wallets.
Meanwhile, Xinbi merchants now face direct exposure to enforcement against marketplace-controlled funds. The Telegram channel seizures also disrupted a key route for communication and commerce. The US actions came alongside a wider campaign against scam operations linked to Chinese organized crime groups overseas.
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Strike Force agents spent two weeks in Madagascar assisting local authorities against 13 Chinese-run scam compounds. The operation led to nearly 400 arrests. Investigators processed more than 3,200 electronic devices during the raids. Authorities identified about 30 detainees as Chinese leaders of the compounds.
Officials later repatriated those individuals to China. The Madagascar operation formed another part of the broader enforcement drive against scam-center networks. The Strike Force said it has restrained about USD 938 million in cryptocurrency since its launch in November 2025. The Xinbi action added approximately USD 52 million in one day.
US investigators said overseas criminals used the Xinbi network to launder money taken from American victims. The Secret Service said those operators had assumed US authorities could not reach them.