# U.S. Government Cracks Down on Xinbi Guarantee, Seizes Millions from Illicit Telegram Marketplace In a major offensive against organized cybercrime, the U.S. government on Wednesday announced sanctions against **Xinbi Guarantee**, a sprawling illicit marketplace operating on **Telegram**. The platform, primarily Chinese-language, has been implicated in facilitating billions of dollars in transactions linked to cyber scams, money laundering, and human trafficking. ## Coordinated International Action The **Treasury Department** confirmed the sanctions, targeting **Xinbi Guarantee** and two businesses accused of supporting its operations: **Anwen Technology** and **SafeW Technology Co.** Concurrently, authorities executed a seizure of $52.8 million from 52 cryptocurrency wallets connected to the platform. This U.S. action follows a similar designation by the U.K. in March, highlighting a growing international resolve against such digital criminal enterprises. By Wednesday, **Xinbi Guarantee**'s main Telegram channel was no longer accessible, and numerous associated usernames appeared deactivated. The **DOJ** confirmed that a district court had authorized the seizure of Telegram channels hosting the marketplace on Monday. "Yesterday, my office issued a signed warrant to seize the Telegram channels where these vendors conduct their business and hawk their service to scammers," stated Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, at a press conference. ## Xinbi's Enormous Scale Launched in 2022, **Xinbi Guarantee** rapidly ascended to become the second-largest illicit online marketplace in history, processing an estimated $24 billion in transactions. This data comes from blockchain intelligence firm **Elliptic**, which provided crucial assistance to the **U.S. Secret Service** in carrying out the wallet seizures. **Xinbi** served as a vital hub for cybercrime in Southeast Asia, offering a wide array of services crucial for executing scams, including notorious "pig butchering" schemes. Vendors on the platform offered everything from money laundering services and stolen personal data to deepfake technology. All transactions were conducted using **Tether**'s **USDT** stablecoin, with the marketplace acting as an escrow service to guarantee payments. ## The Aftermath of Huione Guarantee and Telegram's Role **Xinbi Guarantee** emerged following the takedown of **Huione Guarantee** by **Telegram** due to international pressure. **Huione** had facilitated $31 billion in illicit activity before its closure. Despite pleas from researchers for **Telegram** to take similar action against **Xinbi**, the platform remained operational, attracting a significant portion of the criminal underworld. According to cyber intelligence company **DarkTower**, as of last week, **Xinbi** hosted over 4,600 "crime-as-a-service" vendors. ## The Scam Center Task Force Strikes These actions were spearheaded by the **DOJ**'s **Scam Center Task Force**, an interagency initiative established in November to combat cyber scams predominantly orchestrated by Chinese organized crime groups operating out of Southeast Asia. With cooperation from **Tether**, the task force seized two cryptocurrency wallets holding $12 million used for vendor payments, alongside dozens of others linked to money laundering and other scam activities. In response to **Tether**'s freezing of funds, **Xinbi** administrators reportedly announced a shift to **USDD**, a stablecoin on the **TRON** blockchain, perceived as harder to seize. "Xinbi strongly condemns Tether's arbitrary freezing of addresses," they reportedly posted on Telegram. "The process of unlocking large amounts of USDT and ensuring compliance is far more difficult and lengthy than anticipated, and we are deeply saddened and frustrated." Tom Robinson, co-founder of **Elliptic**, anticipates that the platform will attempt to adapt. "It's likely that Xinbi will try to rebuild and relaunch, but it will be very challenging in the face of these sanctions," he commented. ## Expanding the Global Reach The **Treasury Department** also targeted **Anwen Technology**, a Cambodia-based developer of the cryptocurrency payment app **XinbiPay**, and **SafeW Technology Co.**, which created an encrypted messaging application allegedly used by **Xinbi**'s money laundering and merchant networks. Announcing the actions against **Xinbi Guarantee**, the **DOJ** affirmed that its strike force would "expand its scope to attack scam compounds globally." This commitment was underscored by a recent deployment to Madagascar, where a team worked with local law enforcement. This operation led to the dismantling of 13 scam centers run by Chinese organized crime syndicates and the arrest of dozens of alleged leaders, who were "interestingly quickly repatriated to China," according to Jeanine Pirro. *Jonathan Greig contributed to this story.*