Key Highlights
- MistTrack identified 39.27 million USDT frozen across 10 TRON addresses linked to Xinbi Guarantee.
- One of the addresses contained more than $10 million in USDT.
- Xinbi Guarantee was among several Telegram-based guarantee marketplaces removed in 2025.
Blockchain analytics firm MistTrack has reported that approximately 39.27 million USDT was frozen across 10 TRON addresses it attributes to Xinbi Guarantee, a Chinese-language Telegram-based escrow and guarantee marketplace.
MistTrack identified the addresses on September 8 through wallet labels, transaction activity and connections to addresses associated with Xinbi’s network.
The reported freeze has not been independently explained by Tether. The stablecoin issuer has not publicly confirmed that the 10 addresses were restricted or disclosed the reason for the reported action.
MistTrack identifies 10 frozen TRON addresses
According to MistTrack, the 10 addresses collectively held 39,273,713 USDT.
One of the addresses identified by the analytics firm, TWPma8xH48AEN93x2krdukV9e1j6sPsBeS, contained more than $10 million in USDT.
MistTrack said its attribution was based on transaction patterns, wallet labels and links to addresses identified as “Guarantee Merchant” wallets.
The attribution connects the addresses to Xinbi’s broader wallet network, but does not by itself establish that the funds were derived from criminal activity.
Xinbi was among Telegram marketplaces removed in 2025
Xinbi Guarantee was one of several Chinese-language guarantee marketplaces removed from Telegram in May 2025.
These services operated through escrow-style arrangements, allowing users to conduct transactions with the marketplace acting as an intermediary.
The wider guarantee marketplace ecosystem has subsequently drawn scrutiny from blockchain investigators over alleged links to cryptocurrency scams, money laundering and other illicit businesses.
Elliptic previously estimated that Huione Guarantee, another major marketplace in the sector, processed more than $27 billion in transactions before its removal.
TRM Labs separately estimated that guarantee marketplaces removed during Telegram’s crackdown had processed more than $35 billion in USDT-denominated transactions.
Those estimates refer to overall marketplace activity and do not mean that all transactions or funds were illicit.
Wallet restrictions do not necessarily end the network
The reported freeze also highlights the limits of relying on individual wallet restrictions to disrupt an entire financial network.
Following Telegram’s removal of Huione Guarantee, another Chinese-language marketplace known as Tudou Guarantee emerged. Chinese authorities later took action against Tudou, while users and operators associated with similar services continued to move between platforms and wallet networks.
That makes it difficult to determine from the latest wallet freeze alone whether the identified funds relate to Xinbi’s previous operations, activity that continued after the Telegram removal, or successor services.
Why Tether froze the addresses remains unclear
Tether’s USDT infrastructure allows the issuer to restrict transfers from specific blockchain addresses.
When an address is frozen, the USDT held there cannot be freely transferred, although the wallet’s transaction history remains visible on the blockchain.
The reported Xinbi-related restrictions differ from cases where Tether has publicly announced freezes following sanctions designations or law-enforcement actions.
Without a statement from Tether, the reason behind the 10 reported restrictions cannot be established.
Previous USDT freezes have targeted suspected illicit activity
Tether has previously restricted USDT associated with sanctions investigations and suspected illicit activity.
In July, Tether froze 131 TRON wallets after the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added those addresses to its ISIS-K designation. The action affected more than $1.4 million in USDT.
Such cases have raised questions about the role of centralized stablecoin issuers in restricting funds after sanctions designations, law-enforcement requests or other compliance investigations.
The Xinbi-related wallets, however, have not been publicly tied to a specific sanctions designation by Tether based on the information currently available.
What the reported freeze shows
The reported restriction affects nearly $39.3 million in USDT across 10 addresses, but it does not establish that Xinbi Guarantee’s wider network has been dismantled.
The broader guarantee marketplace ecosystem has demonstrated an ability to shift users, operators and transaction activity between platforms and wallet infrastructure.
For now, the main available evidence is MistTrack’s attribution of the 10 TRON addresses and its report that the USDT held there has been frozen.
Whether the restrictions form part of a wider compliance or law-enforcement investigation remains unclear until Tether provides further information.
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