Secret Service Freezes $52.8 Million in Crypto Tied to Telegram Bazaar Behind Global Scams
U.S. Secret Service, working with Elliptic, froze $52.8 million in USDT tied to Xinbi Guarantee, a Telegram-based Chinese-language crypto marketplace used by scammers and money launderers. Two wallets holding about $12 million were seized under a DOJ warrant; the rest were frozen pending further action. Since 2022, Xinbi and its merchants have processed at least $24 billion, making it one of the largest illicit online marketplaces tracked, second only to Huione Guarantee. Treasury designated Xinbi a transnational criminal organization and sanctioned related firms in Singapore and Cambodia; the UK had already sanctioned Xinbi earlier. Xinbi says it will compensate customers and appears to be shifting from USDT toward USDD to avoid freezes. The action was part of a broader Scam Center Strike Force operation that has seized about $938 million in scam-linked crypto.
