The U.S. Department of Justice credited Tether with helping restrain more than $52 million in cryptocurrency linked to Xinbi Guarantee and vendors accused of servicing international scam operations.

The DOJ’s Scam Center Strike Force seized two cryptocurrency wallets that Xinbi used to collect vendor payments. The wallets held approximately $12 million. The Strike Force also sought to restrain 47 additional wallets believed to be connected to money laundering across the network. The DOJ specifically thanked Tether for its proactive assistance in the investigation. The agency described the operation in an official announcement.

Xinbi Connected Scammers With Money Laundering Services

Xinbi operated a Chinese-language Telegram marketplace where vendors offered services to scam-center operators. Those services included money laundering, custom fraudulent investment websites and recruitment for scam compounds in Southeast Asia.

A federal court in Washington authorized the seizure of Xinbi’s Telegram channels on September 7. Investigators traced funds belonging to U.S. victims to vendors that advertised laundering services through the marketplace and posted cryptocurrency addresses for payments.

The financial action followed a $39.3 million USDT freeze across 10 Tron addresses linked to Xinbi Guarantee on September 8. Blockchain-tracking firm MistTrack identified 39,273,713 USDT as frozen across those addresses, including one address holding more than $10 million. The freeze was also reported in a Crypto Adventure article.

Tether’s subsequent statement on the DOJ operation confirmed the company’s cooperation with U.S. authorities. However, the statement did not specify that Tether’s address controls accounted for the entire $52 million restrained by the Strike Force. Tether published its account in an official statement.

Taken together, the action targeted multiple parts of the alleged network: the Telegram marketplace used to connect vendors with scam operators, cryptocurrency wallets used for payments and laundering, and entities that Treasury identified as supporting Xinbi through financial services.

Treasury Sanctions Xinbi as a Transnational Criminal Organization

The Treasury Department coordinated with the DOJ operation by sanctioning Xinbi Guarantee as a significant transnational criminal organization. The Office of Foreign Assets Control also designated two entities accused of supporting Xinbi through digital currency and other financial services, according to the Treasury Department’s announcement.

Property belonging to the sanctioned entities that falls within U.S. jurisdiction is blocked under the designation. The action extends Washington’s pressure on financial infrastructure connected to Southeast Asian scam centers, where cryptocurrency has been used to receive victim funds and move proceeds through cross-border laundering networks.

Tether has participated in previous U.S. actions involving similar schemes, including a $61 million USDT seizure tied to cryptocurrency investment fraud earlier this year.

Strike Force Restraints Approach $938 Million

The latest action brought the Scam Center Strike Force’s total restrained cryptocurrency to approximately $938 million since the initiative launched in November 2025.

The Strike Force combines the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia with the DOJ Criminal Division, FBI, Secret Service and other federal partners. Its current operations target cryptocurrency investment fraud, money laundering, cyber-enabled scams and criminal networks operating scam compounds across Southeast Asia and other regions. The DOJ maintains information about the initiative on its Scam Center Strike Force webpage.

U.S. authorities also deployed a Strike Force team to Madagascar as part of the September operation. The team supported local authorities in dismantling 13 Chinese-run scam centers and processing more than 3,200 electronic devices. Investigations were opened after authorities interviewed nearly 400 people arrested during the operation.

Source: Crypto Adventure.