US Seizes $52.8 Million from Xinbi Guarantee, One of Largest Illicit Marketplaces

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury have executed a coordinated strike against Xinbi Guarantee, a Chinese-run illicit marketplace operating on Telegram. The operation targeted the financial infrastructure of a network that provided industrial-scale tools for global fraud.

Federal authorities froze approximately $52.8 million in USDT across 52 digital wallets belonging to the marketplace and its merchants. In addition to the asset freeze, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions to block the network's property and interests within the United States. The enforcement action extended beyond digital assets, resulting in the seizure of Xinbi's Telegram channels and the disruption of 13 Chinese-run scam compounds located in Madagascar.

The Scale of the Operation

According to blockchain analysis firm Elliptic, Xinbi Guarantee is the second-largest illicit online marketplace of all time. Since 2022, the platform has processed at least $24 billion in transactions. A linked payment service, known as Xinbi Pay (XPay), handled an additional $6 billion in volume.

Elliptic described Xinbi as the leading marketplace for online scammers, specifically those executing "pig butchering" romance scams and other fraudulent schemes against victims worldwide. The platform functioned as a comprehensive hub for criminal activity, selling victim personal data, providing communications infrastructure, and offering money laundering services to facilitate the movement of stolen funds.

A Shifting Criminal Landscape

Xinbi Guarantee rose to prominence by filling a vacuum in the illicit economy. It expanded rapidly following the 2025 closures of Tudou Guarantee and Huione Guarantee, the latter of which had processed $31 billion. The network operated using a "guarantee" model, utilizing escrow deposits to establish trust between transnational criminals who would otherwise be unable to verify each other's reliability.

While the marketplace was primarily digital, it maintained a physical footprint in Yatai New City, Myanmar. That operational base was previously targeted in a raid by the Myanmar military in late 2025, signaling a period of increasing instability for the network's physical infrastructure.

Industry Implications

This enforcement action strikes directly at the financial trust mechanisms that allow transnational criminal networks to operate at a massive scale. By targeting the escrow and guarantee model, the U.S. government is attempting to undermine the perceived safety and reliability of these marketplaces.

Industry experts suggest that destabilizing this infrastructure could significantly hinder the ability of "pig butchering" syndicates to acquire the tools and laundering services necessary to sustain their operations. The seizure of assets and the imposition of sanctions serve as a warning to other illicit marketplaces that the use of stablecoins does not grant immunity from federal seizure.

Future Outlook

Authorities continue to monitor the remnants of the Xinbi network as it attempts to reorganize. While the Madagascar compounds have been disrupted and millions in assets frozen, the transition of these networks to new platforms or different cryptocurrencies remains a primary concern for international law enforcement.