Tether froze 39,273,713 USDT across ten addresses on the Tron network on September 8, 2026, after the funds were traced to Xinbi Guarantee, a Chinese informal escrow platform under scrutiny for its alleged role in illicit finance. The action was first flagged by MistTrack, the blockchain tracking tool developed by security firm SlowMist.
One address, TWPma8xH48AEN93x2krdukV9e1j6sPsBeS, held more than 10.7 million USDT at the time of the freeze. Several other addresses linked to the network carried balances close to 8 million USDT each, according to data reviewed by MistTrack.
Tether executed the freeze by blacklisting the addresses within the USDT smart contract, a mechanism the company uses to block further transfers from wallets it identifies as connected to criminal activity. The stablecoin issuer has now frozen a cumulative $4.2 billion in 2026 tied to illicit activity across its operations.
Who is Xinbi Guarantee
Xinbi Guarantee operates through Telegram and other online channels, functioning as an informal escrow service. Blockchain analytics firms Chainalysis, TRM Labs and Elliptic have categorised it as a major illicit financial infrastructure network. Elliptic estimated in 2025 that wallets linked to Xinbi had received at least $8.4 billion. The UK government sanctioned the network on March 26, 2026.
Following the Tether freeze, Xinbi Guarantee shifted its deposit instructions, telling users it would now only accept funds sent to an address associated with USDD, a stablecoin also issued on the Tron network, according to a report from Bitrace. The platform attributed the change directly to the freeze, stating the shift came "debido a las acciones de Tether" — due to the actions of Tether.
A recurring pattern of enforcement
The episode follows a familiar pattern in which stablecoin issuers move to block wallets flagged by blockchain forensics firms, only for the targeted networks to migrate to alternative tokens or chains to preserve liquidity. Xinbi's pivot to a USDD address suggests the network is attempting to route around Tether's blacklisting rather than cease operations. For European regulators and financial institutions monitoring stablecoin flows under frameworks such as MiCA, the case illustrates the limits of issuer-level freezes when illicit networks can shift to other tokens within the same blockchain ecosystem.
