U.S. authorities announced a new step against Xinbi Guarantee and its associated seller network, after more than $52 million in digital assets tied to the alleged scam market activity and its affiliated money-laundering network were restricted.

The U.S. Department of Justice said the Scam Center Strike Force seized two wallets used by Xinbi to collect seller payments, and these two wallets contained nearly $12 million. At the same time, law enforcement sought to impose restrictions on 47 additional wallets believed to be linked to money laundering through the Xinbi network.

As the Ministry noted, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia authorized the seizure of Telegram channels that hosted the market on September 7. According to an unsealed memorandum, sellers used these channels to promote services including money laundering, tailored investment fraud websites, and recruitment services linked to fraud syndicates in Southeast Asia.

The operation targets the financial and communications infrastructure that supports large-scale fraud hubs, indicating that the U.S. move is not limited to pursuing individuals only, but also extends to markets and services that enable these networks to operate. The Ministry also said that Tether provided support in the investigation.

U.S. Treasury sanctions

Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), designated Xinbi as a cross-border criminal organization of significance. The Office also imposed sanctions on two companies—SafeW Technology in Singapore and Anwen Technology in Cambodia—alleging they provided technical and financial support to Xinbi.

According to the Treasury, beginning around June 2025, Xinbi started moving merchant and money-laundering networks to the encrypted messaging application owned by SafeW as law-enforcement scrutiny intensified. It is also alleged that Anwen developed XinbiPay, also known as NewPay, a crypto wallet and payments app used by the market.

The Treasury said Xinbi processed more than $24 billion in cryptocurrency and cash since about 2022, with a primary focus in Southeast Asia. It added that the platform was also used by North Korean hackers and entities linked to the sanctioned Prince Group.

The sanctions include freezing Xinbi’s assets and interests in the United States, along with generally prohibiting U.S. persons from dealing with the designated entities.

This step comes after earlier British sanctions imposed on Xinbi on March 26, aimed at cutting the platform’s access to cryptocurrency services. Under those sanctions, assets linked to it are frozen in the UK, and it is also blocked from money, trade, and travel networks there.

For platforms and users, this case shows how communication channels and crypto wallets can evolve into centralized infrastructure within fraud and money-laundering networks—along with the compliance risks and increasing regulatory enforcement that come with the associated routes.

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