Commerce Wire｜12 September 2026
Sources: United States Department of State, US Treasury OFAC, United States Department of Justice, Elliptic, UNODC
On 9 September, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Chinese‑language online trading platform Xinbi Guarantee as a major transnational criminal organisation. Concurrent sanctions were imposed on two supporting entities, Singapore‑based SafeW Technology and Cambodia‑based Anwen Technology. On the same day, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a coordinated law‑enforcement operation, seizing the platform’s Telegram operating channels, taking custody of two primary receiving wallets and freezing approximately USD 52.8 million in crypto‑assets linked to money‑laundering activities across 52 associated wallet addresses. The Scam Center Strike Force has frozen a total of USD 9.38 billion in fraud‑related crypto‑assets to date. According to estimates from the U.S. Treasury Department, the platform has processed more than USD 24 billion in transactions since commencing operations in 2022.
The action was authorised under Executive Order 13581, as amended by Executive Order 13863, and Executive Order 14390. The Treasury Department stated that Xinbi Guarantee had long functioned as critical infrastructure for transnational cyber‑fraud and money‑laundering operations. Its services were reportedly utilised by North Korean hacking groups and multiple OFAC‑sanctioned criminal entities, including Jinbei Group Co., Limited and affiliated organisations under the Prince Group. The U.S. Department of State added that cyber‑criminal syndicates based in Southeast Asia defraud American victims out of billions of United States dollars each year. The sanctions and enforcement actions form a key initiative within United States programmes to counter predatory scams targeting its citizens.
Law‑enforcement authorities conducted simultaneous crackdowns along three dimensions: communications, financial assets and overseas operational sites. All Telegram channels and associated accounts operated by the platform were blocked, severing its primary client communication channels. Working alongside stablecoin issuer Tether and the United States Secret Service, investigators identified on‑chain addresses linked to criminal activity and secured the related crypto‑assets. Field operatives, together with local police in Madagascar, dismantled 13 fraud compounds reliant on the platform. More than 3,200 digital devices used in criminal activities were seized, and roughly 400 individuals were taken into custody. Approximately 30 core operators of the compounds are scheduled to be repatriated for investigation.
Built upon the Telegram ecosystem, Xinbi Guarantee was launched around 2022. After the successive takedowns of Huiwang Guarantee and Tudou Guarantee, it absorbed substantial black‑market traffic and rapidly grew into one of the world’s largest illicit crypto escrow marketplaces. Modelling the third‑party escrow mechanism used in e‑commerce, the platform provided custodial services for funds to cyber‑fraud groups and underground merchants. Criminal actors could order fake‑investment websites, acquire money‑laundering channels and recruit labour for fraud compounds on the platform. Funds were settled to merchants only after criminal services were delivered, with the platform collecting commissions on each transaction. The U.S. Department of Justice described this escrow mechanism as turning the platform into a one‑stop underground marketplace for cyber‑fraud. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic estimated total transaction volumes close to USD 30 billion, ranking it as the second‑largest illicit trading market on record.
Following news of the asset freeze, on‑chain monitoring revealed platform operators attempting to convert around USD 2.8 million worth of USDT into USDD via decentralised exchanges in an apparent bid to evade seizure. Tom Robinson, Founder and Chief Scientist at Elliptic, noted that claims regarding the decentralised nature of USDD remain contested, as its collateral pool still includes USDT susceptible to freezing. Converting tokens cannot fully eliminate monitoring‑related risks. Robinson analysed that Xinbi Guarantee might attempt to re‑launch under a new brand name following the precedent set by Huiwang Guarantee. Nevertheless, this large‑scale enforcement action has severely damaged confidence among underground‑market participants. Criminal users now recognise wallet addresses can be identified and frozen at short notice, undermining the trust upon which underground trading fundamentally depends.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Southeast‑Asian cyber‑fraud generated an estimated annual revenue of USD 40 billion in 2025, and related criminal activities continue to globalise. Industry observers note that shutting down front‑end marketplaces alone cannot eradicate the entire criminal value chain; underlying criminal demand, operational teams and money‑laundering conduits remain intact. Cross‑border regulatory strategies are gradually shifting away from targeting only front‑end trading platforms, prioritising enforcement against supporting payment providers, communications infrastructure and cross‑border fund‑transfer channels. This operation marks an escalating long‑term global campaign against money‑laundering marketplaces built upon cryptocurrencies.
Sources: U.S. Department of State press release Dismantling the Transnational Criminal Organisation “Xinbi Guarantee”, 9 September 2026; U.S. Treasury OFAC announcement, 9 September 2026; statement by the U.S. Department of Justice Scam Center Strike Force, 9 September 2026; Elliptic on‑chain analysis report, 9 September 2026; UNODC Report Southeast Asia Cyber‑Fraud Situation Report 2025.