Secret Service Freezes $52.8M in Crypto Linked to $24B Xinbi Telegram Scam

What happened: The U.S. Secret Service froze $52.8 million in USDT across 52 wallets tied to Xinbi Guarantee, a Telegram-based scam bazaar that processed at least $24 billion since 2022. The action, coordinated with blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, was followed by a DOJ seizure of $12 million and an OFAC designation of Xinbi and two supporting entities as "significant transnational criminal organizations." Telegram deleted Xinbi's channels, while Xinbi attempted to evade sanctions by moving $2.8 million into USDD, a stablecoin lacking a centralized freeze function. The DOJ's Scam Center Strike Force has now seized $938 million from crypto scams since November 2025.

Why it matters: This marks one of the largest U.S. law enforcement actions against crypto-enabled fraud, targeting a marketplace second only to Hydra in illicit volume. The Xinbi case highlights both the capabilities and limits of stablecoin freezes: while USDT can be frozen centrally, the move to USDD (itself partly USDT-backed) exposes the cat-and-mouse dynamic in crypto crime. The scale—$24 billion laundered—underscores the persistent challenge of policing cross-border digital finance, even as regulatory and technical tools improve.

Source: Decrypt