Secret Service Freezes $52.8 Million in Crypto Tied to Telegram Bazaar Behind Global Scams

In brief

• The U.S. Secret Service froze $52.8 million in USDT held across 52 wallets tied to Xinbi Guarantee on September 8, using intelligence from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.
• Treasury's OFAC designated Xinbi a "significant transnational criminal organization" the same day, and the DOJ's Scam Center Strike Force says it has now seized $938 million since launching in November 2025.
• Xinbi called the freeze "arbitrary" and moved $2.8 million into USDD, a stablecoin that lacks USDT's built-in freeze switch—though its reserves are partly backed by USDT anyway.

The U.S. Secret Service froze $52.8 million in cryptocurrency linked to Xinbi Guarantee on September 8, a Chinese-language marketplace that runs on Telegram and sells the tools scammers need to defraud people worldwide.

The government agents worked with Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic to identify and freeze the funds. “Elliptic has been tracking Xinbi and its wallet infrastructure for several years, and our intelligence directly enabled the freezing action, as well as the sanctions imposed on Xinbi today by the United States,” the company said today in a statement.

Fifty-two wallets were frozen beginning at 8am UTC on Sept 8, all holding USDT, Tether's dollar-pegged stablecoin. Two of those wallets, containing roughly $12 million, were seized outright under a warrant unsealed today by the Department of Justice. The rest were frozen pending further action.