On September 9, U.S. authorities announced the seizure of over $52 million in cryptocurrencies linked to the Xinbi Guarantee marketplace and its sellers.
Simultaneously, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added the platform to its sanctions list, designating it as a significant transnational criminal organization. According to the agencies, Xinbi facilitated fraudulent operations and helped launder stolen funds.
Operation Details
The Justice Department’s Scam Center Strike Force seized two cryptocurrency wallets used by Xinbi to collect payments for sellers, containing approximately $12 million.
Authorities also sought to block an additional 47 wallets allegedly involved in money laundering within the marketplace network.
The mentioned $12 million is part of the total seized assets exceeding $52 million. The Justice Department specifically thanked the issuer of USDT, Tether, for assisting in the investigation.
On September 7, a federal court in the District of Columbia authorized the seizure of the platform’s Telegram channels. According to case materials, these channels advertised the creation of fake investment sites, money laundering, and recruitment for scam centers in Southeast Asia.
Xinbi acted as a transaction guarantor, holding buyer payments until the seller completed the service. The investigation claims to have traced transactions from U.S. victims to specific marketplace participants.
“Scam centers in Southeast Asia steal billions of dollars annually from U.S. victims,” stated U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The sanctions also targeted two of Xinbi’s technology partners:
- SafeW Technology from Singapore, developer of the SafeW messenger, where the platform began moving sellers and money laundering intermediaries around June 2025;
- Anwen Technology from Cambodia, developer of the payment app and cryptocurrency wallet XinbiPay, also known as NewPay.
Assets of these organizations in the U.S. and under American control are subject to blocking. Transactions with them are generally prohibited for U.S. persons.
Xinbi’s Resilience to Past Blockades
According to the U.S. Treasury, since its inception around 2022, Xinbi has processed over $24 billion in cryptocurrencies and fiat. The agency claims that after actions against Huione, some of its clients moved operations to Xinbi, which offered similar services.
In May 2025, Telegram already blocked channels of Xinbi and Huione Guarantee, renamed Haowang. The latter then announced its closure.
However, Xinbi quickly restored its presence on the messenger. A July study by TRM Labs noted a 90% increase in daily inflows.
Experts also found that Huione sellers transitioned to another platform, Tudou, while maintaining their previous wallet infrastructure.
On March 26, 2026, the UK imposed sanctions on Xinbi. British authorities linked the marketplace to the sale of stolen personal data and equipment for scam centers.
Connections between such platforms and North Korean hackers were also the subject of a study by RUSI. It described funds flowing from the WazirX hack to addresses associated with Xinbi and Huione Guarantee.
In June, the U.S. Justice Department seized a cloud account of Huione Group entities.
