UK becomes first country to sanction crypto market Xinbi over $19.9B fraud scheme
The UK has sanctioned crypto marketplace Xinbi and Cambodia #8 Park for fraud over a $19.9b fraud and smuggling network, freezing London assets ahead of June’s Illicit Finance Summit.
Summary
- The UK fined Xinbi – the first country to do so – after Chainalysis data showed it processed more than $19.9 billion in illegal transactions between 2021 and 2025.
- The fines also target the operators of Cambodia’s “#8 Park” scam, which is believed to house up to 20,000 trafficked workers, as well as many of London’s frozen sites.
- The move comes ahead of the UK’s Illicit Finance Summit in June, where officials plan to push for international cooperation against crypto-enabled fraud networks.
The UK government on March 26 approved Xinbi, a Chinese-language cryptocurrency market, making it the first country in the world to take this step against the platform. The measures, announced jointly by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the Home Office, target what officials have described as the main financial backbone of a major fraud and people-trafficking operation across Southeast Asia.
According to Chainalysis, Xinbi has processed more than 19.9 billion in sales between 2021 and 2025. The platform facilitates money laundering, unlicensed crypto trading, and the sale of stolen personal data, while providing the communications infrastructure – including satellite internet equipment – used to identify fraud victims. Crypto.news previously reported on Xinbi’s connection to the Telegram-based criminal market ecosystem, where it operated alongside Haowang Guarantee, the largest darknet market ever recorded.
The sanctions extend beyond Xinbi itself to Legend Innovation Co., which operates Cambodia’s “#8 Park” — a scam center believed to hold as many as 20,000 trafficked workers — and its director Eang Soklim. The nominees are also linked to the Prince Group financial network, which was sanctioned by the UK and US last year in an action that led to an asset freeze and seizure of more than £1 billion ($1.3 billion).
London’s buildings have been frozen, infrastructure has been dismantled
Dozens of London properties will be frozen under the new measures, adding to UK assets previously seized. Those previous seizures included a £100 million ($133 million) office building, two multi-million pound mansions, and a helicopter. Officials say the latest move will limit access to financial channels operated by the network.
“Our sanctions today send a clear message: We will not allow the British people to fall victim to these appalling scams or tolerate the appalling abuses of human rights perpetrated by these fraud institutions,” said Stephen Doughty MP, Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories, in an official government announcement.
The UK has stated that its aim is to completely isolate Xinbi from the crypto ecosystem – cutting off its ability to process transactions and destroying the financial backbone that allows fraud networks to discover, support, and hide their activities.
A broad reduction in crypto-smuggling is allowed
The move comes amid growing global alarm over the role of crypto in financing human trafficking and forced labor. A February 2026 report by Chainalysis found that crypto flows to suspected smuggling services increased by 85% by 2025, with stablecoin-heavy, Telegram-linked networks operating across Southeast Asia at an increasing rate. Just six days before Xinbi’s sentencing, the FBI and Thai police seized $580 million in cryptocurrencies linked to organized gangs targeting Americans.
The UK move is part of what officials describe as a wider strategy targeting not only the perpetrators but the infrastructure that supports global fraud. Authorities said the Xinbi sanctions would feed into the UK’s Money Laundering Conference in June, where they plan to speed up international cooperation to combat money laundering and the movement of money across borders.
As reported by The Block, the sanctions went into effect immediately on March 26.
