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The U.S. Department of Justice seized two cryptocurrency wallets holding about $12 million and moved to restrain 47 more linked to Xinbi Guarantee, a Chinese-language marketplace accused of supplying money laundering, scam infrastructure and worker recruitment to Southeast Asian scam centers, while the Treasury Department simultaneously sanctioned the platform and two technology firms that supported it.
At the centre of the investigation is Xinbi’s role as an intermediary between scam operators and vendors offering criminal services.
According to a DOJ seizure warrant, Xinbi operated through Telegram and allowed vendors to advertise services to operators of scam centres.
Those services allegedly included laundering money stolen through wire fraud, creating custom websites for fraudulent investment schemes and recruiting workers for scam compounds in Southeast Asia.
Xinbi also operated an escrow-style system.
When a scam operator purchased a service, Xinbi would hold the money intended for the vendor until the service had been completed.
That arrangement allowed the marketplace to function as a middleman while helping buyers and sellers conduct transactions through its network.
US investigators said funds belonging to American victims were traced to vendors advertising money laundering services through Xinbi’s Telegram channels.
A US district court authorised the seizure of Telegram channels hosting Xinbi’s marketplace on Sept. 7, according to the DOJ.
Investigators also seized two wallets used by Xinbi to collect payments for vendors. Those wallets contained approximately $12 million when they were seized.
Authorities then sought to restrain 47 more wallets believed to be associated with money laundering on the network.
The combined action placed more than $52 million in cryptocurrency beyond the reach of Xinbi and vendors linked to the marketplace.
Tether also assisted investigators with the operation.
Elliptic said it helped the US Secret Service identify and freeze the wallets connected to Xinbi. The blockchain intelligence firm described Xinbi as one of the largest illicit online marketplaces and said it had processed at least $24 billion in transactions.
The Justice Department’s action came alongside sanctions from the US Treasury Department.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Xinbi Guarantee as a significant transnational criminal organization.
OFAC also sanctioned Singapore-based SafeW Technology and Cambodia-based Anwen Technology, accusing both companies of providing technological support for Xinbi’s operations.
SafeW developed an encrypted messaging application that Xinbi began using around June 2025 to coordinate transactions between buyers and sellers.
The move allowed Xinbi’s merchant and money laundering networks to reduce their dependence on Telegram as law enforcement attention increased.
Anwen Technology developed XinbiPay, also known as NewPay, a cryptocurrency payment and digital wallet application used by Xinbi.
The Treasury said the two companies materially assisted or provided financial, technological or other support to Xinbi.
The sanctions mean property and interests in property belonging to the designated entities that are in the United States or controlled by US persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. US persons are also generally prohibited from carrying out transactions involving that property unless authorised.
The Treasury said Xinbi and associated platforms had processed more than $24 billion in digital asset and fiat transactions since the marketplace emerged around 2022. Much of that activity was connected to Southeast Asia.
Xinbi had previously come under pressure from law enforcement and technology companies.
Telegram removed thousands of channels connected to illicit marketplaces including Xinbi and Huione Guarantee in 2025.
But the networks did not disappear completely.
Blockchain investigators later observed Xinbi rebuilding parts of its infrastructure through new channels and other communication platforms.
As scrutiny increased, Xinbi began moving parts of its operations away from Telegram.
The Treasury said the marketplace encouraged users to move to SafeW to coordinate transactions, while XinbiPay provided another layer for cryptocurrency payments and digital wallets.
That migration gave investigators another set of infrastructure to follow.
Blockchain analysis has become increasingly important in these investigations because cryptocurrency transactions can be traced across public blockchains even when criminals attempt to hide their identities.
In the Xinbi case, that transaction trail helped investigators identify wallets connected to the marketplace and its merchants.
The US action is not the first major government move against Xinbi.
The United Kingdom sanctioned Xinbi in March 2026 over its alleged role in scam and money laundering operations.
The latest US sanctions add another layer of financial restrictions against the marketplace and companies accused of supporting it.
The Treasury also linked Xinbi’s ecosystem to other criminal networks, including entities previously sanctioned by the US.
According to Treasury, Xinbi’s platform had been used by North Korean hackers and sanctioned entities associated with Cambodia’s Prince Group.
US prosecutors have separately accused Prince Group and its chairman, Chen Zhi, of operating a network connected to cryptocurrency investment fraud, money laundering and forced-labour scam compounds.
Prince Group has denied the allegations.
The Xinbi operation is part of a wider US effort to attack the infrastructure supporting online scam centres.
The DOJ said its Scam Center Strike Force also deployed a team to Madagascar, where authorities worked to dismantle 13 Chinese-run scam compounds.
Investigators helped process more than 3,200 electronic devices recovered during the operation and interviewed people among nearly 400 arrests.
The DOJ said about 30 of those arrested were Chinese leaders of the scam compounds who were later repatriated to China.
The Strike Force was launched in November 2025 to investigate cryptocurrency investment fraud, cyber-enabled fraud, human trafficking and money laundering linked to scam centres.
Its latest actions bring the amount of cryptocurrency restrained by the unit to approximately $938 million.
The case shows how modern scam operations have developed into an ecosystem rather than a collection of individual criminals.
Scammers need more than a cryptocurrency wallet to operate.
They need websites, payment systems, communication channels, money laundering services and, in some cases, people willing to work inside scam compounds.
Marketplaces such as Xinbi allegedly brought those services together in one place.
That makes the financial infrastructure behind online fraud just as important as the scammers who communicate directly with victims.
The US crackdown also shows why cryptocurrency remains a major focus for financial crime investigators.
Crypto can allow criminals operating across different countries to move money quickly, but transactions on public blockchains can also leave a permanent trail.
For investigators, following that trail can reveal connections between wallets, vendors, marketplaces and the victims whose money entered the network.
The bigger question is whether taking down Xinbi’s infrastructure will permanently disrupt the network.
Previous shutdowns of illicit marketplaces have shown that criminal operators can sometimes move to new platforms, rename their services or adopt different payment systems.
For now, US authorities have taken control of key Xinbi infrastructure and restrained more than $52 million in cryptocurrency.
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