Telegram Revokes High-Value Handles Following U.S. Actions Against Xinbi Guarantee

Messaging platform Telegram has deactivated dozens of rare, high-value usernames linked to Xinbi Guarantee (新币担保), a Chinese-language illicit marketplace, following coordinated U.S. law enforcement actions that restrained over $52 million in cryptocurrency and sanctioned the network.

High-Value Usernames Revoked

The platform-level revocations targeted consecutive single-character repeating handles—including @aaaa, @bbbb, @cccc, through @zzzz—as well as administrative identifiers such as @gqdh and @haxi. Xinbi advertised these handles as dedicated VIP customer support and transaction desks (专群靓号).

On the TON-based Fragment marketplace, where Telegram usernames are auctioned and traded as digital assets, four-letter repetitive handles represent scarce commodities. In the aggregate, secondary-market estimates place the floor valuation of the collection in the tens of millions of dollars.

Federal Court Authorization and Asset Freezes

The revocations follow coordinated enforcement operations announced on September 9, 2026, by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the federal interagency Scam Center Strike Force. On September 7, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia authorized warrants targeting Xinbi’s infrastructure and financial reserves:

• Cryptocurrency Restraints: Federal agents seized two core wallets used by Xinbi to collect vendor fees, which held approximately $12 million. Court restraining orders were concurrently executed against 47 associated vendor wallets, freezing more than $52.8 million in cryptocurrency within 24 hours. Stablecoin issuer Tether assisted authorities in executing contract-level freezes on the targeted assets.
• Channel Infrastructure: The court warrant authorized the seizure of Telegram channels hosting Xinbi’s marketplace. Following the court order and subsequent sanctions, the targeted operational channels were taken offline and the associated handles deactivated.
• Compound Interdictions: Concurrently with digital actions, Strike Force personnel deployed to Madagascar to assist local law enforcement in taking down 13 scam compounds linked to the syndicate's operational network.

Marketplace Scope and Laundering Operations

Operational since 2022, Xinbi Guarantee served as an informal escrow clearinghouse for organized cybercrime syndicates. Blockchain intelligence from TRM Labs estimates the service processed approximately $24.2 billion in lifetime volume, providing settlement guarantees for investment scams, recruitment channels for money-mule networks, and cash-out services.

Investigation findings published by Chainalysis also documented that state-sponsored North Korean actors laundered proceeds from major cryptocurrency exchange exploits through Xinbi's vendor desks, swapping flagged funds for untainted stablecoins and fiat currency.

Sanctions and Current Platform Status

In parallel with the judicial seizures, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s OFAC formally placed Xinbi Guarantee and associated entities on its sanctions list, following earlier designations issued by the United Kingdom in March 2026.

Neither Telegram nor administrators of Xinbi Guarantee have released formal public statements regarding the enforcement actions. The seized channels and revoked usernames remain inaccessible on the platform.