Headline: Xinbi grows into a $17.9B hub for illicit crypto flows even as rivals fall under enforcement Xinbi — a Chinese-language “guarantee” marketplace that acts as an informal escrow service for crypto transactions — has continued to operate at large scale despite sustained global enforcement efforts, recording roughly $17.9 billion in total on-chain volume since mid‑2025, according to analysis by TRM Labs. Key facts - Total transaction volume since mid‑2025: ~$17.9 billion (TRM Labs on‑chain analysis). - Inflows to Xinbi: nearly $8.9 billion. - Inflows nearly doubled between May and December 2025 as activity at rival platforms collapsed. - Xinbi began on Telegram, expanded to other messaging apps including SafeW, and launched its own wallet service, XinbiPay. - Competitors such as Haowang and Tudou saw sharp declines after spring 2025 enforcement actions, including U.S. Treasury findings and coordinated takedowns of messaging channels. What Xinbi does and why it matters Guarantee marketplaces provide escrow, dispute resolution and payment coordination with minimal Know‑Your‑Customer safeguards. That role makes them attractive to scammers, money mule networks and other criminal operators: they can quickly move proceeds, obfuscate origins, and funnel funds back into broader crypto markets. TRM’s analysis shows Xinbi has become one of those central laundering hubs. How Xinbi adapted TRM Labs says Xinbi has displayed operational resilience by shifting its infrastructure. Originally centered on Telegram, it migrated to alternative messaging apps like SafeW and rolled out XinbiPay. The addition of a proprietary wallet service enables funds to circulate inside Xinbi’s ecosystem, complicating tracing and reducing dependency on external exchanges. On‑chain data showed a brief slowdown in December 2025, then a sharp rebound in early 2026 as users transitioned to the new setup. Implications for enforcement Previous crackdowns in spring 2025 disrupted platforms such as Haowang and Tudou, but Xinbi’s growth illustrates the limits of targeting individual services. TRM warns that decentralized, adaptive networks can reconstitute quickly, and that guarantee marketplaces remain a choke point for laundering proceeds. Disrupting these facilitators—by tracing and seizing escrow services, wallets, and the messaging infrastructure that hosts them—could expose illicit funds earlier in the laundering chain and reduce their ability to re‑enter the financial system. Bottom line Xinbi’s rise to a near‑$18 billion hub underscores how quickly illicit activity can migrate and adapt when enforcement narrows the playing field. The case highlights both the value of on‑chain monitoring and the challenge regulators face in dismantling fluid, cross‑platform criminal ecosystems. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news