OFAC, DOJ target Xinbi; $52 million seized or restrained

More than $52 million in cryptocurrency tied to Xinbi Guarantee and its vendor network has been seized or restrained as U.S. authorities move against what the DOJ and Chainalysis describe as a sprawling Chinese-language criminal marketplace. The action pairs an OFAC designation with a Justice Department seizure and a court-authorized seizure of Xinbi’s Telegram channels.

The Department of Justice announcement says a federal court authorized seizure of Xinbi’s marketplace channels on September 7, 2026. Two days later, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Xinbi Guarantee, identified 52 associated cryptocurrency addresses, and sanctioned SafeW Technology and Anwen Technology.

The DOJ’s Scam Center Strike Force seized two wallets allegedly used by Xinbi to collect vendor payments — holding approximately $12 million — while authorities restrained another 47 wallets believed to be associated with the marketplace. The $52 million figure is therefore broader than the direct seizure: it covers cryptocurrency across Xinbi and its vendor network that was either seized or restrained, per Chainalysis’ account of the coordinated action. The materials do not specify how much of that total remains seized versus restrained, how much sits in each group, or the breakdown of the $8.4 billion in historical stablecoin receipts recorded across the 52 OFAC-designated addresses.

Chainalysis reports the marketplace has processed more than $24 billion in digital assets and fiat currency since around 2022. The desk’s assessment is that the financial seizure is small relative to Xinbi’s reported cumulative throughput, but the action is targeted at the payment wallets, corporate entities and communications infrastructure that made the marketplace usable.

Xinbi’s reach went well beyond generic scam operations. DPRK-linked actors moved tens of millions of dollars stolen from major crypto hacks, including Bybit and WazirX, through the marketplace’s vendor network. The 52 OFAC-designated addresses had received more than $8.4 billion in stablecoins historically.

Xinbi operated through hundreds of Chinese-language Telegram channels, functioning as a marketplace connecting criminal networks with money laundering services, scam infrastructure, and stolen data. Chinese-language money laundering services processed an estimated 20% of illicit crypto funds over the past five years, including $16 billion in 2025, according to Chainalysis.

For crypto counterparties, the immediate consequence is exposure to the named entities and address set. Xinbi Guarantee, SafeW Technology, Anwen Technology, the 52 OFAC-designated addresses, and the 47 additional restrained wallets are now the specific infrastructure at issue. What further proceedings will follow for those 47 wallets isn’t stated in the available materials.

Tether assisted law enforcement during the investigation.

This action adds U.S. seizure pressure to a designation the UK had already issued. Britain sanctioned Xinbi in March 2026 under its Global Human Rights sanctions regime, citing the marketplace’s connection to grave human rights abuses.

The DOJ placed the Xinbi operation inside a wider Strike Force push. The Scam Center Strike Force deployed to Madagascar to assist with the takedown of 13 Chinese-run scam compounds, processed more than 3,200 electronic devices, and opened investigations after interviewing nearly 400 arrestees. Around 30 people identified as Chinese leaders of scam compounds were repatriated to China.

The DOJ says cyber-enabled fraud schemes accounted for almost 85% of losses reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025. Reported losses from crypto investment fraud scams rose from $4.57 billion in 2023 to $8.65 billion in 2025 — an increase of roughly 89%.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro framed the reach problem plainly in the DOJ material. “If Chinese organized crime can buy a custom website and a money laundering service the way you order takeout, then every American with a retirement account is in the blast radius,” she said, adding: “My Strike Force will continue to dismantle Chinese organized crime, those who facilitate it, and protect Main Street America.”

The Telegram-channel seizure was authorized September 7; OFAC’s designation took effect September 9.