US Seizes $52M, Targets Xinbi; Laundering Markets See Outflows

On Sept. 7, U.S. authorities seized more than $52 million in cryptocurrency, confiscated two wallets holding roughly $12 million and sought restraints on 47 additional addresses linked to the Chinese-language marketplace Xinbi. A federal court authorized seizure of Telegram channels tied to Xinbi. The Treasury Department designated Xinbi a significant transnational criminal organization and sanctioned SafeW Technology and Anwen Technology, companies tied to the marketplace’s messaging and payment systems.

Xinbi, which emerged around 2022, is estimated to have processed about $24 billion in digital assets and fiat. Vendors on the platform offered services described as specialist “Black U” laundering, cash delivery, bank-card fraud, sale of personal data, KYC bypasses, scam-platform development, surveillance equipment and malware. Some vendor channels served as recruitment pipelines for Southeast Asian scam compounds where trafficked workers faced forced labor and confinement.

U.S. enforcement earlier targeted operational wallets used to receive, route and withdraw USDT stablecoins. Those actions prompted Xinbi to shift merchant coordination and alleged laundering activity to the encrypted SafeW application around June 2025 and to introduce a payments product called XinbiPay or NewPay. The recent actions targeted both fund flows and the companies that support messaging and payments.

Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis reported North Korea-linked actors moved tens of millions of dollars in stolen cryptocurrency through vendors on Xinbi. Chainalysis described Black U operators as taking traceable stolen crypto and replacing it with stablecoins funded by other illicit revenue streams, a process that can sever direct on-chain links between thefts and the assets withdrawn.

On-chain analysis firm Bitrace detected a sharp rise in USDT outflows from a Xinbi sub-guarantee platform. Daily withdrawals that ranged from about $389,000 to $564,000 between Sept. 1 and Sept. 7 jumped to about $1.28 million on Sept. 8 and $1.81 million on Sept. 9, with additional outflows on Sept. 10. Bitrace reported many guarantee merchants moved funds quickly to reduce the risk of freezes or sanctions.

Rival platforms reacted after the Xinbi sanctions. Fulilai Guarantee removed money-laundering merchants from public groups, and Fulilai Wallet recorded about $9.3 million in outflows following the U.S. action. Industry analysts noted that shifting to a different stablecoin can limit exposure to an issuer-level freeze, but sanctions that target service providers, payment infrastructure and counterparties affect broader workarounds.

Governments including the U.K. have taken earlier action against Xinbi. The U.S. measures add targeting of communications channels, vendor wallets and firms that underpin the marketplace.