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The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has credited Tether with assisting an enforcement action that restrained more than $52 million in cryptocurrency allegedly connected to the Xinbi Guarantee marketplace, marking another major intervention against infrastructure supporting a global crypto scam economy.
Tether announced the acknowledgment on Sept. 11, following a DOJ Scam Center Strike Force operation targeting Xinbi, a Chinese-language marketplace operating through Telegram. Authorities allege that the platform connected scam operators with vendors providing services ranging from money laundering and fraudulent investment websites to the recruitment of trafficking victims for scam compounds in Southeast Asia.
The enforcement action highlights the growing role of blockchain analytics and stablecoin issuers in helping authorities trace and restrict cryptocurrency associated with illicit activity. It also demonstrates how a crypto scam investigation can extend beyond individual fraudsters to the financial infrastructure allegedly used to support organized criminal networks.
The DOJ said its Scam Center Strike Force and the Department of the Treasury coordinated action against Xinbi Guarantee, which authorities describe as an illicit marketplace serving scam centers and organized criminal groups.
Investigators traced funds belonging to U.S. victims to vendors operating through the network, according to the DOJ. Xinbi allegedly used Telegram to facilitate transactions between scam operators and vendors offering services designed to support fraudulent operations.
As part of the operation, authorities seized two cryptocurrency wallets that Xinbi allegedly used to collect approximately $12 million in vendor payments. Investigators also sought the restraint of 47 additional wallets believed to be associated with money laundering activity.
Together, the actions resulted in more than $52 million worth of cryptocurrency being restrained in a single day, according to the DOJ.
The development underscores the increasingly international nature of crypto scam networks, particularly operations that allegedly combine investment fraud, money laundering and human trafficking.
The DOJ said Xinbi’s marketplace was primarily operated in Chinese through Telegram, with vendors advertising services such as creating fraudulent investment websites and laundering cryptocurrency obtained from victims.
Tether said the DOJ specifically thanked the company for its assistance in the investigation.
The stablecoin issuer has increasingly positioned cooperation with law enforcement as part of its response to the misuse of digital assets. In this case, its assistance contributed to an investigation involving wallets and cryptocurrency transactions connected to an alleged crypto scam infrastructure.
“By now, criminal organizations should understand that using digital assets does not put them beyond the reach of the law,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.
Ardoino said blockchain-based financial infrastructure can also give investigators tools to identify and disrupt illicit transactions.
“Tether has consistently demonstrated that the stablecoin infrastructure can give law enforcement powerful tools to identify, disrupt, and stop illicit financial activity,” — Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.
The DOJ’s acknowledgment comes as authorities intensify efforts to target financial networks supporting scam centers. Rather than focusing exclusively on individual perpetrators, investigators are increasingly pursuing the marketplaces, payment channels and service providers allegedly enabling large-scale fraud.
That approach is particularly significant for the crypto scam sector because cryptocurrency transactions can move across jurisdictions rapidly, requiring cooperation among exchanges, blockchain companies and government agencies.
Tether said its cooperation with authorities extends well beyond the Xinbi case.
According to the company, it has worked with more than 340 law enforcement agencies across 67 countries on more than 2,800 cases. Tether said those efforts have helped freeze more than $5 billion in assets associated with illicit activity.
The company also highlighted several recent enforcement actions involving its USD₮ stablecoin. These include cooperation linked to approximately $225 million in assets connected to a human trafficking and romance scam syndicate, nearly $61 million tied to an investment fraud operation and more than $344 million frozen through coordinated action with U.S. authorities.
Such interventions illustrate how stablecoin issuers can play a role in investigations where blockchain transactions provide investigators with a traceable financial record.
For authorities confronting the crypto scam economy, cooperation with companies operating digital-asset infrastructure can provide another avenue for identifying suspicious wallets and restricting funds before they are moved further through the financial system.
The Xinbi operation also reflects a broader law-enforcement focus on scam centers operating across Southeast Asia. The DOJ said its Scam Center Strike Force was created to address cryptocurrency-related fraud, cyber-enabled fraud, human trafficking and money laundering connected to organized criminal networks.
The action against Xinbi demonstrates the increasingly complex relationship between cryptocurrency infrastructure and law enforcement.
While digital assets are frequently used in legitimate payments and financial applications, authorities continue to investigate cases in which cryptocurrencies allegedly facilitate fraud and money laundering. The Xinbi case shows how investigators can follow transactions across wallets and seek to restrain assets connected to an alleged crypto scam network.
Tether said it will continue working directly with the DOJ, FBI and U.S. Secret Service to combat the misuse of USD₮.
The company’s cooperation with U.S. authorities is likely to remain closely watched as regulators and law-enforcement agencies increase pressure on digital-asset networks used by criminal organizations.
For the wider cryptocurrency industry, the Xinbi case reinforces a central message: participation in digital-asset markets does not place transactions outside the reach of law enforcement. As authorities become more sophisticated in tracing blockchain activity, the financial infrastructure surrounding a crypto scam can increasingly become a target alongside the individuals allegedly responsible for the fraud.
The latest action therefore represents more than a single seizure. It is part of a broader effort to disrupt the infrastructure that authorities say enables organized crypto scam operations to move, launder and monetize illicit funds across borders.
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