Shocking: $8.4B Illicit Crypto Market Xinbi Linked to Colorado Firm, Reveals Elliptic Report

A major warning has been issued regarding a massive underground marketplace operating in the shadows of the crypto world. Known as the Xinbi illicit market, this platform has reportedly facilitated billions in transactions linked to criminal activities, shining a harsh light on the persistent challenges of illicit finance within the digital asset space.

What is the Xinbi Illicit Market?

According to a recent Elliptic report, Xinbi Guarantee is a Chinese-language marketplace operating primarily on Telegram. It serves as a hub connecting vendors with scammers in Southeast Asia, offering a variety of illicit goods and services. The marketplace functions on a ‘guarantee model,’ requiring deposits from vendors to ensure transactions proceed as intended, even for illegal activities.

Key findings about the Xinbi illicit market include:

• It has processed approximately $8.4 billion in transactions to date.
• The vast majority of these transactions involve stablecoins, particularly Tether (USDT).
• It is considered the second-largest illicit online marketplace discovered by Elliptic so far.
• Transaction volume is growing rapidly, exceeding $1 billion in Q4 2024 alone.
• The platform boasts a large user base, reportedly numbering around 233,000.

The Concerning Colorado Crypto Company Connection

Perhaps one of the most surprising revelations from the Elliptic report is the alleged link between the Xinbi illicit market and a US-based entity. The marketplace’s website claims to operate through Xinbi Co. Ltd., a company incorporated in Colorado in 2022. This connection raises significant questions about how illicit operations can potentially leverage seemingly legitimate corporate structures in jurisdictions like the US.

However, the report also notes that as of January 2025, the status of this Colorado crypto company was updated to ‘Delinquent’ for failing to file required reports. While the exact nature of the relationship between the Telegram marketplace and the incorporated entity remains under investigation, the claim made by Xinbi itself highlights a worrying trend of illicit actors attempting to mask their operations behind corporate veils.

Facilitating Crypto Money Laundering on a Massive Scale

One of the primary services offered on the Xinbi platform is crypto money laundering. The marketplace provides services that help criminals convert illicitly obtained funds, often derived from scams, into other assets or move them through various channels to obscure their origin. The $8.4 billion in transactions identified by Elliptic underscores the significant role Xinbi plays in the global crypto money laundering ecosystem.

The report also indicates potential links between the platform and sophisticated cybercriminal groups, including North Korean hackers who may be using Xinbi’s services to launder stolen cryptocurrency. This suggests that the platform is not just a facilitator for small-scale scammers but is integrated into the operations of major state-sponsored or organized crime entities involved in crypto money laundering.

A Hub for Stablecoin Scams and Criminal Services

Beyond money laundering, the Xinbi illicit market is a marketplace for tools and data enabling various criminal activities, particularly targeting victims through stablecoin scams. Merchants on the platform sell items like:

• Technology such as Starlink equipment, likely used by scammers operating remotely.
• Stolen personal data for identifying and targeting potential scam victims.
• Fraudulent documents like fake IDs.

These services directly support operations like ‘pig butchering’ scams, where victims are groomed over time before being convinced to invest large sums into fraudulent crypto schemes. The heavy reliance on stablecoins, especially USDT, for transactions within Xinbi makes it a key facilitator for these types of stablecoin scams in the region.

Key Takeaways from the Elliptic Report

The comprehensive Elliptic report is based on the identification and analysis of thousands of crypto addresses linked to Xinbi Guarantee and its merchants. The firm emphasizes that the $8.4 billion figure should be considered a lower bound, meaning the true volume of illicit activity facilitated by the platform is likely even higher. This highlights the challenge of fully quantifying the scale of such underground operations.

Elliptic previously exposed a similar, even larger marketplace called Huione Guarantee, which facilitated over $98 billion and was recently sanctioned by the US Treasury. The existence and scale of platforms like Xinbi and Huione point to a sophisticated, China-based underground banking system heavily reliant on stablecoins and digital payments for large-scale money laundering and criminal finance. The Elliptic report serves as a critical warning about the infrastructure supporting global financial crime using cryptocurrencies.

Conclusion

The discovery and analysis of the Xinbi illicit market by Elliptic reveal a disturbing intersection of sophisticated criminal networks, large-scale crypto money laundering, prevalent stablecoin scams, and a surprising link to a seemingly legitimate Colorado crypto company. The platform’s rapid growth and significant transaction volume underscore the ongoing challenge for regulators and law enforcement in combating illicit finance within the crypto ecosystem. The insights provided by the Elliptic report are crucial for understanding the methods and scale of these underground operations and developing strategies to disrupt them.