U.S. freezes $52.8 million linked to Xinbi Guarantee
The U.S. Department of Justice has announced coordinated action against Xinbi Guarantee, a Telegram-oriented illicit marketplace used to support online fraud. Authorities froze $52.8 million in cryptocurrency across 52 wallets associated with Xinbi and its merchant network, seized Telegram channels and associated usernames, and confiscated two wallets used to collect vendor payments.
The Justice Department said the two seized wallets held about $12 million. The action involved the U.S. Secret Service and blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, which identified wallets holding $52.8 million in Tether's USDT stablecoin. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control also sanctioned the Chinese-language media operation for facilitating cyber scams, fraud, money laundering and other criminal activity targeting Americans.
A marketplace for scam-centre services
Xinbi Guarantee emerged after the closure of HuiOne Guarantee and its successor, Tudou Guarantee. Elliptic describes Xinbi as the second-largest illicit marketplace of its kind, estimating that it processed $30 billion in transactions since its inception around 2022.
The platform acted as an intermediary between vendors and operators of scam centres, including those conducting so-called pig-butchering romance scams. Vendors offered services such as custom fraudulent investment websites, laundering of funds obtained through wire fraud, and recruitment of trafficking victims to work in scam compounds in Southeast Asia.
Under the marketplace model described by the Justice Department, Xinbi held a scammer's payment until a vendor completed the purchased service. That escrow-like arrangement was intended to assure criminal buyers that vendors would deliver. Treasury said the platform was reportedly used by North Korean hackers and by OFAC-designated entities, including Jin Bei Group Co., Ltd. and entities within the Prince Group TCO.
Enforcement extends to scam compounds
The Scam Center Strike Force deployed to Madagascar to support action against 13 scam compounds run by Chinese organised crime syndicates. Authorities opened investigations based on interviews with nearly 400 arrestees and seized more than 3,200 electronic devices. Roughly 30 Chinese leaders of the compounds were repatriated to China by the Chinese government.
The $52.8 million restrained in one day raised the Scam Center Strike Force total to approximately $938 million, the Justice Department said. It also said the task force will expand its remit to target scam-centre compounds globally.
Stablecoin shift does not remove exposure
Xinbi historically used USDT, primarily on the TRON blockchain. Following the freeze, Elliptic said the marketplace exchanged about $2.8 million of remaining USDT assets for USDD through a decentralised exchange. USDT issuer Tether can freeze wallets, whereas USDD has no central issuer or comparable freezing capability.
Elliptic's Tom Robinson noted that USDD's decentralisation claims are contested and that the stablecoin remains exposed to freezing risk because it is partly collateralised with freezable USDT. Elliptic called the enforcement action a severe setback for the Guarantee marketplace ecosystem because it erodes the confidence that criminal merchants and users place in the platforms.
For businesses handling customer payments or fraud investigations, the case reinforces the practical value of preserving payment evidence, monitoring cryptocurrency exposure and escalating suspected scam activity quickly: wallets and infrastructure may be traceable even when criminal services operate through messaging platforms.