UK sanctions $20 billion crypto market linked to fraudulent hubs

The products offered on Xinbi included stolen personal data, money laundering tools and satellite equipment to contact fraud victims.

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has sanctioned Chinese crypto market Xinbi, which blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimates has transacted almost $20 billion in volume between 2021 and 2025.

The designation means the UK government is not just targeting individual scammers, but is also going after the financial infrastructure that keeps industrial-scale fraudulent operations running in Southeast Asia.

The role of the platform in the fraudulent supply chain

According to Chainalysis, Xinbi is a peer-to-peer marketplace, primarily on Telegram, where criminals can buy and sell illegal goods and services with built-in deposit protections. Think of it like an online marketplace, except the sellers don’t sell consumer goods. They sell stolen personal data, money laundering services, fraudulent software and even satellite internet hardware used to contact fraud victims.

Alongside Xinbi, the FCDO also sanctioned Legend Innovation, the operator of Park #8, described by the British government as Cambodia’s largest fraud hub with the capacity to house 20,000 trafficked workers, as well as two individuals linked to the Prince Group: Thet Li, described as a key financial lieutenant, and Hu Xiaowei, who allegedly operated under three different aliases.

According to data provided by Chainalysis, the platform processed approximately $19.9 billion in crypto flows over a four-year period and was closely linked to other illegal services such as collateral platforms Huione and Tudou. Additionally, the company reported that Xinbi actively facilitated scams by offering criminals tutorials and chatbots to help them manipulate victims.

This is not the first time the network has been targeted, with authorities pushing Telegram to shut down crypto custodial market channels in 2025. However, this action did little to stop it, as it quickly created new communication channels and ensured its website was still accessible. Even on-chain data showed that the trading volume on the platform did not decrease during the Telegram takedown action.

Cryptocurrency laundering networks pose a growing threat

Earlier in the year, CryptoPotato reported how escrow markets like Xinbi sent millions to major crypto exchanges, with the funds coming from online gambling, scams and large-scale laundering operations. One of the largest, Huione Group, reportedly processed transactions worth more than $24 billion before it closed in the middle of last year.

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The FCDO’s sanction of Xinbi highlights growing attempts to combat crypto fraud by directly targeting the rails and markets that support it. The agency’s designation comes as part of its global human rights process, as it accuses Xinbi of supporting entities that participate in torture and other human rights violations within fraud hubs.

In addition to targeted designations, the UK uses several other measures to try to prevent criminals from moving, cashing in and spending stolen digital assets, including regulations and close collaboration with law enforcement. One such joint action saw UK agencies team up with US authorities, including OFAC and FinCEN, to shut down the Huione Group and open $15 billion in civil forfeiture proceedings against it.