Tether has frozen approximately 39,273,713 USDT held across 10 addresses on the TRON blockchain linked to Xinbi Guarantee, a Chinese-language guarantee marketplace that blockchain investigators say has become major infrastructure for Southeast Asian cybercrime. The freeze was first reported by MistTrack, the onchain tracing platform developed by SlowMist, on September 8.
MistTrack's data showed the frozen balances were distributed unevenly across the 10 Tron wallets. The largest address held about 10.78 million USDT, while three others each contained roughly 8 million USDT. Another wallet held around 2.04 million USDT, two more contained about 1.28 million and 1.17 million USDT, and three addresses held only 1 USDT each. MistTrack's transaction map linked one of the largest wallets, beginning with TWPma8x, directly to Xinbi Guarantee, showing incoming transfers from multiple wallets labeled Guarantee Merchant and onward transfers to another Xinbi-linked address.
Tether has not publicly detailed the reason for the freeze or confirmed whether it resulted from a law enforcement request, sanctions compliance, or another investigation. The action follows earlier USDT freezes involving funds linked to Huione Guarantee, another Telegram-based guarantee marketplace. In July 2024, Tether froze more than $28 million in a Tron wallet linked to Huione Group's Guarantee business. BlockSec data previously indicated that Tether blacklisted 4,163 addresses during 2025, freezing $1.26 billion in USDT across Ethereum and Tron.
Xinbi Guarantee emerged around 2022 and operates primarily through an escrow model, connecting merchants and buyers while crypto is used for settlement. TRM Labs estimates the platform has processed approximately $24.2 billion in total transaction volume since its creation, including $12.1 billion in observed inflows since May 2025. Chainalysis estimates Xinbi processed more than $19.9 billion between 2021 and 2025. Elliptic research published in May 2025 attributed at least $8.4 billion in USDT transactions to Xinbi since 2022 and found that its user base grew from 119,000 in August 2024 to 233,000 by May 2025. Investigators have linked Xinbi's infrastructure to money laundering, pig-butchering scams, stolen personal information, fake identification documents, and services supporting scam operations. The UK sanctioned Xinbi in March 2026.
After Telegram removed thousands of Xinbi and Huione channels in May 2025, Xinbi returned within days and later expanded by promoting the SafeW messaging service and introducing NewPay, also known as XinbiPay, a crypto wallet that did not require know-your-customer checks. TRM Labs found that Xinbi's daily inflows rose nearly 90% after the Telegram ban, demonstrating the platform's resilience despite enforcement pressure.
The latest freeze illustrates how centralized stablecoin issuers retain control over funds even on public blockchains. While nearly $39.3 million in USDT tied to Xinbi can no longer move from those addresses, the action affects only 10 identified wallets and does not establish that Xinbi's broader network has been dismantled. For illicit networks heavily dependent on dollar-denominated stablecoins, the move underscores both crypto's usefulness for moving money globally and the significant control centralized issuers can exercise over those funds.
