Strike force restrains $938M scam crypto flows

TLDR

US authorities say their Scam Center Strike Force has now restrained about $938 million in scam?linked crypto after taking down the Xinbi Guarantee marketplace.

1. The strike force seized Xinbi Guarantee on Telegram and froze about $52 million in scam?linked crypto in one day, lifting cumulative restraints to roughly $938 million.
2. Xinbi reportedly processed over $20 billion in transactions, including activity by North Korean hackers and other sanctioned entities, and is now designated a transnational criminal organization.
3. For regular users, this highlights growing enforcement on Telegram?based scam ecosystems and the importance of wallet screening, compliance checks, and avoiding investment platforms routed through opaque marketplaces.

Deep Dive

1. What The Strike Force Did

The Justice Departments Scam Center Strike Force, working with the Treasury Department, seized the Chinese?language Xinbi Guarantee marketplace and restrained about $52 million in cryptocurrency in a single day, as described in a detailed enforcement summary linked to the Xinbi Guarantee marketplace.

According to that report, investigators seized two crypto wallets worth about $12 million and sought restraint of 47 additional wallets, bringing restrained assets from this operation above $52 million and pushing the strike forces cumulative total to roughly $938 million in scam?linked crypto. One DOJ?linked account notes that the strike force has restrained about 938 million in scam?related cryptocurrency across multiple cases.

Confidence: high, based on converging DOJ?sourced summaries and independent news reports.

2. Why This Crackdown Matters

Xinbi Guarantee reportedly acted as an escrow marketplace on Telegram, holding buyers payments until vendors delivered services like laundering scam proceeds or building fake investment sites, which made it easier to trace victim funds back to vendors. Treasury estimates Xinbi processed more than $20 to $24 billion in transactions since around 2022, including both digital assets and fiat, primarily in Southeast Asia.

Treasury also flagged reported use of Xinbi by North Korean hackers and other sanctioned entities, and its Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Xinbi and two supporting companies as a transnational criminal organization, freezing any U.S. property they hold. A related DOJ summary notes that reported crypto investment fraud losses reached $8.65 billion in 2025, up sharply from 2023, underscoring how central these marketplaces have become to global scam infrastructure.

3. What Crypto Users Should Watch

For individual crypto users, the key takeaway is that authorities are increasingly targeting the infrastructure behind scams, especially Telegram?based guarantee or escrow services that route funds between fraudulent investment platforms and laundering services.

Enforcement actions like this can lead to sudden freezes of wallets that interact with such ecosystems, especially where funds touch sanctioned entities or addresses later tied to organized fraud. At the same time, regulators are pairing these crackdowns with broader anti?money?laundering and sanctions rules that increase expectations on exchanges, OTC desks, and analytics tools to screen wallets and flows.

Conclusion

The restraint of roughly $938 million in scam?linked crypto shows that U.S. authorities are moving upstream from individual victims to the marketplaces and payment rails that power modern scam networks.

For crypto users, the practical implication is a stricter environment for anonymous, high?risk flows, especially around Telegram?based services and sanctioned counterparties, and a stronger premium on transparent platforms and clean wallet histories.