US authorities have seized more than $52 million in crypto linked to Xinbi Guaranty and its vendor network as part of a coordinated crackdown on scam marketplaces.
On Wednesday, the US Department of Justice said said Its Scam Center Strike Force seized two wallets used by Xinbi to collect vendor payments totaling about $12 million. Law enforcement also sought sanctions against 47 additional wallets believed to be linked to money laundering across Xinbi’s network.
The DOJ said the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on September 7 authorized the seizure of the Telegram channels hosting the marketplace. According to the unsealed warrant, sellers used the channels to advertise recruitment services for money laundering, custom scam-investment websites and scam compounds in Southeast Asia.
The operation targets the financial and communications infrastructure supporting industrial-scale fraud centers, extending the application beyond individual operators to the marketplace and service providers that allow the networks to operate. The DOJ credited stablecoin provider Tether for assisting in the investigation.
Treasury bans Xinbi and technology providers
In a coordinated move on Wednesday, the US Treasury Department said its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) nominated Jinbi as an important international criminal organization. OFAC sanctioned Singapore-based SafeW Technology and Cambodia-based Anwen Technology for allegedly providing technical and financial support to Xinbi.
Xinbi began migrating its merchant and money-laundering networks to SafeW’s encrypted messaging application in June 2025 as law-enforcement scrutiny intensified, according to the Treasury. Anwen reportedly developed XinbiPay, also known as NewPay, a crypto wallet and payment application marketplace.
Related: US, UK launch joint coalition targeting crypto scam centers
The Treasury reported that Jinbi has processed more than $24 billion in crypto and fiat since 2022, primarily through Southeast Asia. The department said its platform was used by North Korean hackers and companies linked to the affiliated Prince Group.
The sanctions block Xinbi’s US assets and interests and generally prohibit US persons from dealing with designated entities.
The latest US move follows UK sanctions against Zinbi. On March 26, the UK government imposed a ban on Xinbi with the aim of shutting down the platform from crypto access. Under the ban, UK assets linked to Jinbi will be frozen and the platform barred from the country’s financial, trade and travel networks.
magazine: Tether sues over $42 million in frozen coins, 6,600 students get crypto loans: Asia Express
