Britain becomes first in the world to impose sanctions on cryptocurrency darknet hub Xinbi

On March 26, 2026, the UK Foreign Office first imposed sanctions on the cryptocurrency underground platform Xinbi Guarantee, one of the largest Chinese-language marketplaces operating through Telegram. The restrictions were imposed as part of the global sanctions regime in the field of human rights (Global Human Rights).

According to ITC.ua, this is the first time in the world that sanctions have been applied directly to a cryptocurrency escrow platform of this type.

According to investigators, Xinbi Guarantee functioned as an intermediary between sellers of illegal services and customers, providing payments in cryptocurrency. Among the available services are digital asset laundering, the sale of stolen personal data, as well as tools for online fraud.

Chainalysis analysts estimate the total volume of transactions that passed through the platform in 2021–2025 at over $19.9 billion.

Despite the clandestine nature of its activities, Xinbi Guarantee was formally registered as a company in the United States (Colorado) under the name Xinbi Investment and Capital-Guarantee Group Company. At the same time, the company received the status of “Delinquent” due to failure to submit mandatory reporting.

The investigation also established that funds stolen by the North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group passed through the platform. In particular, this is part of the $ 1.5 billion stolen from the Bybit crypto exchange in February 2025.

The introduction of sanctions may become a precedent for further prosecution of global cryptocurrency platforms used for illegal activities.