How Tether’s $45 million crackdown drove Southeast Asian scam compounds into an ‘unfreezable’ decentralized stablecoin

Tether is pursuing Xinbi Guarantee across its USDT payment network, freezing operational wallets as the sanctioned marketplace tries to keep transacting.Blockchain analytics firm Bitrace said on Sept. 9 that more than $45 million in USDT had been frozen across at least 22 operational addresses linked to Xinbi, including wallets used to receive, route, and withdraw funds.Xinbi's Tether USDT Impacted Addresses (Source: Bitrace)The action targets a network already under government scrutiny. The UK sanctioned Xinbi Guarantee in March, identifying it as a major Chinese-language crypto marketplace and money-laundering hub serving Southeast Asian scam compounds.Tether targeted Xinbi's USDT infrastructureThe $45 million freeze reached beyond wallets simply holding Xinbi-linked funds. Bitrace said the targets included recently used deposit, intermediary, and withdrawal addresses, outgoing hot wallets operated by Xinbi payment service Xpay, and wallets belonging to third parties with close financial ties to the marketplace.That breadth suggests the action aimed to disrupt Xinbi’s ability to move money, rather than only immobilizing assets already sitting in known addresses.Bitrace contrasted...