A Colorado-incorporated firm has been linked to a Chinese illicit marketplace that has served scammers in Southeast Asia and has been used to channel billions of dollars worth of crypto. The marketplace, called Xinbi Guarantee, has received $8.4 billion, primarily in Tether ( USDT ) stablecoin transactions to date, blockchain security firm Elliptic reported on May 13. Merchants on the Chinese-language, Telegram-based illicit marketplace sell technology, personal data, and money laundering services to Southeast Asian scammers who target victims using pig butchering scams. On its website, Xinbi describes itself as an “investment and capital guarantee group company” and claims to operate through Xinbi Co. Ltd, a Colorado-incorporated company incorporated in 2022. Screenshots showing Xinbi Co. Ltd’s incorporation in the US state of Colorado. Source: Elliptic “In January 2025, the corporation was updated to ‘Delinquent’ for failing to file a periodic report,” Elliptic reported. Key services offered on the black marketplace are money laundering services, which are the largest category, as well as technology such as Starlink equipment for scammers, stolen personal data for targeting victims and fake IDs and other fraudulent documents. Xinbi is the second-largest illicit online marketplace discovered so far, with transaction volume growing rapidly. Q4 2024 saw over $1 billion transacted, and evidence links the platform to North Korean hackers laundering stolen funds, the Elliptic researchers said. Related: Largest ‘illicit online marketplace’ has grown 51% in 6 months: Elliptic Elliptic identified thousands of crypto addresses used by Xinbi Guarantee and the merchants on it, and stated that the $8.4 billion in transactions “should be considered as lower bounds of the true volume of transactions on the platform.” The platform, which has 233,000 users, operates on a “guarantee model,” requiring vendor deposits to prevent fraud. Second to Huione Guarantee In July 2024, Elliptic exposed a similar Telegram-based Chinese marketplace known as Huione Guarantee. The firm found that the wider Huione Group of companies had facilitated over $98 billion in crypto transactions. In early May, it was designated by the US Treasury as a money-laundering operation and was to be severed from the US banking system. Illicit marketplace crypto transaction volumes. Source: Elliptic These platforms also provide a window into a “China-based underground banking system,” based around stablecoins and other digital payments, “which is being leveraged for money laundering on a significant scale,” Elliptic concluded. Magazine: Metric signals $250K Bitcoin is ‘best case,’ SOL, HYPE tipped for gains: Trade Secrets
On May 14th, COINOTAG reported significant movements within the cryptocurrency market. Data from Lookonchain revealed that a prominent **whale** divested a staggering **341,783 TRUMP tokens**, incurring a notable **loss of
For the first time in more than three months, bitcoin (BTC) has reclaimed $100,000, rallying to a level just 3.6% shy of its all-time high (ATH). This surge comes as tariff tensions between China and the United States ease off, and macroeconomic conditions become positive again. According to a report from the crypto exchange Bitfinex, favorable macroeconomic conditions and significant institutional demand can keep BTC on a positive trajectory in the meantime. Analysts said that with macro catalysts returning to the forefront, BTC will continue to display relative strength compared with equities and other risk assets. Bitcoin Reclaims $100K One development driving the confidence that has returned to the market is the Federal Reserve’s positive comments on the rate trajectory around the U.S. tariff situation. The comments’ positivity has created a backdrop that has strengthened bitcoin’s recovery and set the stage for a renewed push to new ATHs. Per Bitfinex analysts, China has paused retaliatory tariffs against the U.S., following “backchannel progress” between both countries. The market now faces reduced geopolitical tail risk and ongoing fiscal support, and with rate cuts still on the table, risk assets, led by BTC, could perform well. Bitcoin’s resurgence has triggered a fresh wave of capital inflows, reviving market liquidity and participation. Some investors are re-entering the market, while others are de-risking and taking profits. Bitfinex said the renewed capital inflow is evident in the realized cap. This metric measures the aggregate cost basis of all coins in circulation and tells how much capital enters the market over time. Bitcoin’s realized cap has hit an ATH of $889 billion, rising by 2.1% in the past 30 days. This indicates a sharp uptick in net inflows, reinforcing analysts’ belief that bitcoin’s recent gains are driven by fresh liquidity and not speculative rotation. While BTC hovered below the $75,000 range, more than 5 million coins were at an unrealized loss; however, the price recovery has reduced that number to 0.7 million. Institutional Demand Becomes Steady In addition to bitcoin’s realized cap hitting a new ATH, U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have recorded massive inflows in the last two weeks. Inflow patterns observed by analysts suggest that ETF flows are becoming de-correlated from short-term pullbacks. The demand signals steady allocation from market participants, not opportunistic buying, driven by portfolio mandates, not retail speculation. The post Bitcoin Breaks $100K Again as Macroeconomic Conditions Turn Favorable: Bitfinex Alpha appeared first on CryptoPotato .
The cryptocurrency market is witnessing a bullish trend for XRP, driven by increasing investor interest and a lack of significant resistance ahead. Recent analysis indicates that XRP faces minimal obstacles,
Governor Gavin Newsom’s finance team warned in a memo released on Tuesday that California expects to lose $16 billion in tax money next year because of President Donald Trump’s tariff plan. The memo says revenue in the fiscal year that starts in July will fall 4% from the state’s earlier forecast. Staff members link the slide to a stock sell‑off that hit Wall Street after Trump set out a wide tariff push on April 2. The officials broke down the projected loss this way: about $10 billion less from capital‑gains taxes, $2.5 billion less from corporate taxes, and roughly $3.5 billion less from personal‑income taxes tied to wages and business profits. “Trump’s tariff policies weakened the national and state outlook and caused equity losses,” the memo says. Officials add that these factors began to drag on California receipts in 2025 and erased the strong cash flow the state had seen earlier in the year. Even so, revenue for the fiscal year that ends in June still stands $6.8 billion above Newsom’s last estimate. On the same day the memo came out, a rally led by technology firms pushed U.S. stocks into positive territory for the year. Washington and Beijing said on Monday they will temporarily lower duties on each other’s goods, another sign that could boost investor mood. Newsom calls the gap “Trump Slump” Politico first reported on the memo, which lands one day before the governor is due to unveil his new budget proposal for the coming fiscal year. California’s budget is dependent on the richest households. The top 1% of earners pay nearly half of all personal‑income tax, and much of that money hinges on capital‑gains income that follows the stock market. The new hit to the treasury comes on top of $27.3 billion in financial remedies. It includes $16.1 billion in cuts and a $7.1 billion removal from the state’s rainy‑day fund. California’s constitution requires a balanced budget each year, which means that any shortfall must be closed. Hence, this will be the third year in a row that Newsom and lawmakers trim spending after earlier budgets allocated more money than the state can spend on various programs. Trump’s April tariff order placed duties on all imported goods, raised taxes on items from Mexico, Canada and China, and set extra levies on products such as cars and aluminum. While the president has since eased some of those tariffs, Newsom argues that the policy and the uncertainty around it will raise unemployment and inflation, lower gross domestic product and shrink capital‑gains revenue for California. Last month California sued Trump, saying that he lacks the authority to impose tariffs all on his own. On Tuesday, state attorneys said they will ask a federal judge for a preliminary injunction that would freeze the tariffs while the case moves forward. Cryptopolitan Academy: Coming Soon - A New Way to Earn Passive Income with DeFi in 2025. Learn More
The daughter and grandson of a French crypto exchange co-founder have narrowly escaped armed abduction in Paris.
XRP currently shows bullish confluence with a low barrier to gains.
On May 13, Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road marketplace, revealed his departure from Arizona, setting off on an undisclosed journey. In a striking move, Ulbricht disclosed plans to auction off select personal belongings—artifacts from his life before incarceration and mementos from his years behind bars. Turning the Page Ulbricht, who was fully
As of May 14th, recent data from CoinGecko highlights that Upbit, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has experienced a significant trading volume of $2.845 billion over the past 24 hours. This
In a significant transaction reported by COINOTAG on May 14th, a prominent crypto whale, identified as 0xF92…CD1f9, executed a swap involving 2,000 ETH for 51.821 WBTC, equating to approximately $5.4