U.S. Secret Service Seizes $52.8 Million in Crypto Linked to Telegram Scam Marketplace

The U.S. Secret Service has frozen $52.8 million worth of cryptocurrency tied to a Telegram‑based scam marketplace that operated under the name Xinbi. The freeze follows a Treasury Department sanction of the marketplace after blockchain investigators at Elliptic linked the funds to a series of international fraud schemes.

Investigation and tracing

Elliptic, a blockchain analytics firm, identified the flow of the frozen assets through multiple wallets and traced them back to Xinbi, a platform that allegedly processed $24 billion in illicit transactions via a Telegram bazaar.

Government response

The Treasury Department placed Xinbi on its sanctions list, designating the marketplace as a facilitator of fraud. In coordination with the Treasury, the Secret Service executed the asset freeze to prevent further movement of the funds.

Reaction from Xinbi

Representatives for Xinbi described the freeze as “unfair,” claiming the action disrupts legitimate users of the platform. No further comment was provided regarding the sanction or the investigation.

Implications

The enforcement action underscores growing regulatory scrutiny of crypto‑enabled fraud operations, particularly those leveraging messaging apps to coordinate scams across borders.