US sanctions Xinbi Guarantee Telegram marketplace and freezes $52.8M, as FinCEN reports $12.7B in US crypto scam losses since 2023

The US Treasury sanctioned the Chinese-language Telegram marketplace Xinbi Guarantee and two enablers (SafeW Technology; Anwen Technology, maker of XinbiPay), while the DOJ and Secret Service, assisted by Elliptic, seized its Telegram channels and froze $52.8…

The US disrupted the Xinbi Guarantee marketplace, a Chinese-language Telegram platform connecting Southeast Asian scam centers and transnational crime syndicates to merchants offering financial services, technology, and crypto exchange. Vendors sold money laundering, stolen personal data, deepfake technology, and other services for pig-butchering scams, with payments in Tether's USDT. OFAC sanctioned Xinbi and two supporting entities, SafeW Technology (Singapore) and Anwen Technology (Cambodia, maker of XinbiPay). The DOJ seized Xinbi's Telegram channels and, with the Secret Service and Elliptic, froze $52.8 million in USDT from 52 wallets; Tether separately froze two vendor-payment wallets holding roughly $12 million. The marketplace now appears offline after Telegram deleted its main channels. Sources disagree on total volume: Treasury and Elliptic (which assisted the Secret Service) estimate at least $24 billion processed since 2022, making Xinbi the second-largest illicit online marketplace, while TRM Labs estimates over $36 billion, with daily inflows nearly doubling between May and December 2025. DarkTower counted 4,600+ crime-as-a-service vendors; Xinbi grew after Telegram's Huione Guarantee takedown. The UK sanctioned Xinbi in March 2026, and the US strike force is expanding to target scam compounds globally. The DOJ's Scam Center Task Force also dismantled 13 scam centers in Madagascar, arresting dozens of alleged leaders who were repatriated to China. Separately, FinCEN analyzed more than 33,000 cyber fraud incident reports from roughly 1,300 financial institutions between September 2023 and December 2025, finding about $12.7 billion in losses to cryptocurrency investment scams across all 50 states — about $6.4 billion reported by traditional banks and $5.5 billion by crypto firms — and urged banks to file cyber scam reports as monthly reports rise nearly 11% and scam centers expand beyond Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos.

• OFAC sanctioned Xinbi Guarantee, a Chinese-language Telegram marketplace linking Southeast Asian scam centers and transnational crime syndicates to merchants (reported 2026-09-09/10).
• Two enablers were sanctioned: SafeW Technology (Singapore) and Anwen Technology (Cambodia), maker of the XinbiPay payment service.
• Volume estimates conflict: Treasury/Elliptic say at least $24 billion processed since 2022; TRM Labs says over $36 billion, with daily inflows nearly doubling between May and December 2025.
• Elliptic ranked Xinbi as the second-largest illicit online marketplace; DarkTower counted 4,600+ crime-as-a-service vendors on the platform.
• The Secret Service and Elliptic froze $52.8 million in USDT from 52 wallets; Tether separately froze two vendor-payment wallets holding roughly $12 million.
• Xinbi's marketplace now appears offline and Telegram deleted its main channels.
• Following the freeze, Xinbi announced migration from freezable USDT to the USDD stablecoin on TRON.
• Vendors sold money laundering, stolen personal data, deepfake technology, and other services for pig-butchering scams, paid in USDT; FinCEN notes stolen funds are almost always exchanged for USDT.