The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned Xinbi Guarantee as a significant transnational criminal organization while the Justice Department restrained more than $52 million in cryptocurrency connected to the platform and its vendors.

The coordinated September 9 action also targeted two technology companies accused of supporting Xinbi’s operations. Separately, federal authorities seized the Telegram channels and cryptocurrency wallets used by the Chinese-language marketplace.

What Treasury Sanctioned and Why

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, designated Xinbi Guarantee under an executive order covering transnational criminal organizations. Treasury described Xinbi as an online marketplace connecting scam-center operators with vendors offering money laundering, payment, technology, and other services. 

The platform also allegedly provided escrow services that held payments until vendors completed their work, a structure familiar to anyone who has read up on common P2P scams and how to avoid them, since fraudulent escrow arrangements often mirror legitimate ones closely enough to fool victims into believing their funds are protected until they are not.

Treasury said Xinbi had processed more than $24 billion in digital assets and fiat currency since emerging around 2022, with much of the activity connected to Southeast Asia, a region that has become a hub for scam-center operations targeting victims across multiple continents through romance scams, fake investment platforms, and pig-butchering schemes.

OFAC also sanctioned Singapore-based SafeW Technology and Cambodia-based Anwen Technology. Treasury said SafeW developed an encrypted messaging application used by Xinbi participants, while Anwen developed XinbiPay, also known as the NewPay wallet, giving the network its own dedicated payment infrastructure separate from mainstream crypto wallets or exchanges.

Table 1. Entities Covered by Treasury’s Xinbi Sanctions

Property belonging to the designated entities that is within the United States or controlled by U.S. persons must now be blocked and reported to OFAC. U.S. persons are generally prohibited from conducting transactions involving the sanctioned entities unless an exemption or OFAC authorization applies.

Treasury announced the coordinated enforcement action through its official X account:

How DOJ Restrained Over $52 Million in Crypto

The Justice Department said the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia authorized the seizure of Telegram channels hosting Xinbi’s marketplace. Under the same warrant, investigators seized two cryptocurrency wallets holding approximately $12 million. 

Authorities also sought restraints covering 47 additional wallets believed to be associated with Xinbi’s network and vendors accused of laundering scam proceeds, illustrating how a single marketplace can connect to a much broader web of wallets and intermediaries once investigators begin tracing the flow of funds.

More than $52 million in cryptocurrency was restrained through the coordinated action, bringing the Scam Center Strike Force’s cumulative total to approximately $938 million across its broader enforcement efforts against scam-center networks. 

The DOJ thanked Tether for assisting the investigation, underscoring how stablecoin issuers have increasingly cooperated with law enforcement to freeze or trace funds tied to illicit activity on public blockchains.

A restraint prevents assets from being moved while legal proceedings continue. It does not automatically mean the cryptocurrency has been permanently forfeited to the government or returned to victims, and that distinction matters for anyone following the case expecting an immediate resolution. 

Anyone who has sent funds to a platform later linked to this kind of network should review the warning signs covered in the guide on avoiding scams when sending crypto for remittances, since many of the same red flags apply whether the destination platform is a scam center vendor or an unrelated fraudulent remittance service.

What Comes Next in This Case

The next developments will be any forfeiture proceedings involving the restrained cryptocurrency, additional charges against operators or vendors, and efforts to identify eligible victims. 

Xinbi’s migration between Telegram, SafeW, and proprietary wallet infrastructure also shows how illicit marketplaces can change platforms when enforcement pressure increases.

What this means for you: These sanctions target the infrastructure behind a scam-center network rather than individual victims, but anyone who has interacted with Xinbi, SafeW, or XinbiPay should treat that history as a red flag worth reviewing, since funds connected to sanctioned entities can affect access to future crypto services regardless of intent.

This is not financial advice. Sanctions and asset restraints are legal actions with ongoing proceedings, and outcomes including forfeiture or victim recovery are not guaranteed.