Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said on Sept. 9 that the exchange is building a financial account for AI, while company documentation shows that agents can already access isolated portfolios and execute supported trades.

Armstrong disclosed the project while responding to Ruby on Rails creator David Heinemeier Hansson, commonly known as DHH. Hansso asked which company would build the first “agentic bank” where a machine could receive an allowance and permission to manage routine expenses.

“Coinbase is building the financial account for AI,” Armstrong responded. The brief statement did not provide a launch date, product name, fee structure or regulatory details. It should therefore be treated as a description of Coinbase’s direction rather than confirmation of a new banking product.

Coinbase’s current documentation supplies more detail. Coinbase for Agents is already available as a trading connection between supported AI applications and Coinbase Advanced Trade. The service uses a remote Model Context Protocol server or a local command-line interface.

NVIDIA announced on Sept. 9 that it is working with eight Australian infrastructure providers on an AI factory buildout targeting up to two gigawatts of capacity by 2027.

The planned expansion involves Firmus, Sharon AI, IREN, Megaport, ResetData, CDC, NEXTDC and AirTrunk. According to NVIDIA’s official announcement, the partners will develop land, power and powered-shell capacity capable of hosting multiple generations of NVIDIA DSX infrastructure.

NVIDIA will provide accelerated computing systems, networking equipment, software and technical support. The participating companies will operate the facilities. That structure means the two-gigawatt figure represents a collective capacity target, rather than a single NVIDIA-owned data center.

The proposed buildout would be larger than Australia’s existing data center computing capacity. Australia currently has about 1.6 gigawatts, according to Data Centres Australia and market researcher DC Byte, figures cited by Reuters.

Eight partners will divide infrastructure responsibilities

Sharon AI plans to deploy up to 68,000 NVIDIA GPUs connected through NVIDIA Quantum InfiniBand and Spectrum-X Ethernet networking. The company said the systems would serve Australian startups, enterprises, government agencies and research organizations requiring locally hosted computing capacity.

IREN will combine NVIDIA’s DSX reference architecture with its experience in power, land, data centers and GPU operations. Its contribution includes the planned 800-megawatt Bundey campus in South Australia. IREN has historically operated Bitcoin mining infrastructure but has increasingly expanded into AI cloud services and high-performance computing.

That shift reflects a wider overlap between cryptocurrency mining and AI infrastructure. Both businesses require access to large power supplies, cooling systems and computing facilities. In related coverage, crypto.news examined why AI chips are increasingly being compared with scarce digital assets as demand for computing capacity grows.

CDC said it operates more than 550 megawatts across Australia and New Zealand, with another 800 megawatts under construction. The company also claims its facilities use renewable electricity and zero-water cooling systems. Those environmental statements are company claims and have not been independently verified across every proposed site.

NVIDIA DSX connects facilities with AI software

NVIDIA describes DSX as a full-stack AI factory platform covering facility design, computing, networking, software and reference architecture. The system is compatible with CUDA and is designed to support later generations of NVIDIA hardware without requiring operators to redesign every infrastructure layer.

The company said expanded capacity would give Australian organizations greater access to NVIDIA Nemotron open models. Healthcare technology company Heidi is using Nemotron tools for clinical applications, while Atlassian is applying NVIDIA technology to semantic search and other features within its Rovo AI platform.

However, NVIDIA did not disclose the expected cost of the Australian buildout, individual investment commitments or how much of the targeted capacity already has financing, planning approval or grid connections. The two-gigawatt target should therefore be treated as a forward-looking plan rather than completed infrastructure.

Power access will determine whether the target is reached

The scale of the proposal brings power availability, grid connections and cooling requirements into focus. Data centers consume electricity continuously, and high-density GPU clusters can require more advanced cooling than conventional computing facilities.

NVIDIA said additional capacity could support new power-generation projects, but it did not identify specific generation assets or electricity contracts. Australian authorities and infrastructure operators will need to assess network connections, construction approvals and local environmental requirements for individual projects.

NEXTDC separately announced plans to raise A$1.1 billion through convertible notes to support its expanding AI infrastructure portfolio, Reuters reported. The financing is broader than the NVIDIA collaboration and should not be treated as funding solely for DSX facilities.

The next measurable developments will be site approvals, power agreements, construction milestones and GPU delivery schedules. NVIDIA and its partners have not published a shared timetable showing how much capacity should become operational during each stage before 2027.

NVIDIA also cautioned that its infrastructure projections remain subject to demand, partner execution, regulation and technology availability. Investors can monitor those risks through the company’s SEC filings, alongside future announcements from the eight Australian partners.

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev defended the company’s AMC stock tokens on Sept. 9, arguing that public companies should not automatically control third-party securities referencing their listed shares.

Tenev made the remarks during a CNBC “Squawk Box” interview, his first televised response since the dispute with AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron escalated.

“Issuers should have control and do have control over the rights and obligations of the stock that they issue, but that doesn’t mean they control everything about it,” Tenev said. He argued that companies cannot prevent independent firms from issuing separate securities that reference publicly traded shares.

“Issuer consent depends on what exactly you’re doing,” Tenev added. He said Robinhood’s products “should not automatically require issuer consent,” although that position has not received a public ruling from the SEC or a court.

Aron has disputed that interpretation. He argues Robinhood is using AMC’s name and share price to create a parallel financial product without the company’s involvement. The disagreement centers on whether economic exposure should be marketed as a stock token when the holder does not legally own the referenced share.

AMC stock tokens are debt securities, not shares

Tenev said each Robinhood stock token is backed one-for-one by an underlying share held as collateral. The token itself is a debt security issued by Robinhood Assets Jersey Limited rather than a share issued by AMC.

Investors receive exposure to changes in AMC’s share price and payments reflecting dividends. They do not receive voting rights and are not recorded on AMC’s shareholder register. Their legal claim is against the token issuer, not directly against AMC.

Robinhood launched its stock-token offering for European customers in June 2025 before expanding access through Robinhood Wallet. The products are unavailable to U.S. customers and are not registered under U.S. securities laws.

The company has connected its tokenization strategy to a dedicated blockchain based on Arbitrum technology. As crypto.news reported, Robinhood Chain fees provide a revenue stream for Arbitrum while supporting tokenized assets and other financial applications.

AMC CEO threatens legal action and SEC referral

Aron initially said AMC had no connection to Robinhood’s token and did not authorize or endorse it. He later called on Robinhood to “cease and desist” trading the product and said AMC’s securities lawyers would examine possible legal action.

The AMC CEO also said the company would raise the matter with the SEC. No public lawsuit or SEC enforcement action concerning the AMC token had been identified as of Sept. 10.

Robinhood chief legal officer Dan Gallagher rejected Aron’s demand. “We know a little something about the U.S. securities laws and will not ‘DECIST,’” Gallagher wrote, referencing a spelling error in Aron’s original post. Aron later said the misspelling was intentional humor.

Tenev subsequently reinforced Gallagher’s position by saying Robinhood stood behind its stock tokens. The company has not indicated that it plans to remove the AMC-linked product.

Voting rights and token pricing remain unresolved

Robinhood controls the underlying shares used as collateral, but Tenev said the company has not announced how those shares will be voted. This leaves an unresolved governance question because token holders receive no direct voting power.

The debate also covers price formation. Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo pointed to an AMC-linked token pair that reportedly traded at roughly 60 times the reference share price. Thin liquidity and limited arbitrage routes can allow a token’s price to separate from the asset it tracks.

Robinhood says its tokens provide international investors with exposure to U.S. equities. Critics argue that products called stock tokens should either represent direct legal ownership or carry clearer descriptions explaining their debt-based structure.

The Federal Reserve has recognized that tokenized securities can use different legal models. Its regulatory guidance distinguishes instruments representing direct ownership from separate securities referencing underlying assets.

The next formal development could come from AMC’s legal team or the SEC. Until either takes public action, Robinhood’s AMC tokens remain available to eligible international users, and Tenev’s interpretation of issuer consent remains the company’s legal position rather than a settled precedent.

US authorities have moved to dismantle parts of Xinbi Guarantee’s ecosystem—seizing crypto assets linked to the alleged scam marketplace and coordinating criminal and sanctions action aimed at the communications and payment infrastructure behind large-scale fraud.

On Wednesday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said its Scam Center Strike Force seized two wallets used by Xinbi to collect vendor payments totaling about $12 million, with additional court-authorized restraints sought for 47 more wallets believed to be tied to money laundering across Xinbi’s network. Separately, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Xinbi as a significant transnational criminal organization and sanctioned technology providers SafeW Technology (Singapore) and Anwen Technology (Cambodia) over alleged support to the network.

Key takeaways

• The DOJ action targeted both payment infrastructure (seized and restrained wallets) and the marketplace’s hosting channels, including Telegram infrastructure tied to vendors.
• OFAC sanctions block Xinbi’s US-linked property and generally prohibit US persons from transacting with the designated entities.
• Treasury says Xinbi shifted parts of its operations—particularly merchant and laundering workflows—toward SafeW’s encrypted messaging application after enforcement pressure increased.
• Law enforcement is framing the case as an attempt to disrupt the broader “service layer” enabling industrial-scale scam operations, not just individual scammers.
• TRM Labs policy head Ari Redbord argues Xinbi functioned as a large-scale “escrow and cash-out layer” in Southeast Asia’s scam markets following the fallout of earlier platforms.

Wallet seizures and expanded restraints in DOJ operation

The DOJ said that, based on a court order, its Scam Center Strike Force seized two wallets connected to Xinbi that were used to receive vendor payments. The agency also reported that it requested restraints against 47 additional wallets believed to be part of the platform’s money-laundering channels.

According to the unsealed warrant cited by the DOJ, the US District Court for the District of Columbia authorized the seizure of Telegram channels used to host and advertise the marketplace’s services on Sept. 7. The warrant describes vendors using those channels to promote money laundering services, custom scam-investment websites, and recruitment offerings tied to “scam compounds” in Southeast Asia.

This approach signals a shift in enforcement emphasis: rather than focusing solely on endpoint actors, prosecutors are targeting the operational plumbing—where scams recruit, where services are sold, and where funds move—helping make fraudulent networks more scalable.

Sanctions on Xinbi and technology providers

In a coordinated move, the US Treasury Department announced OFAC designations for Xinbi as a significant transnational criminal organization. Treasury also sanctioned SafeW Technology and Anwen Technology, alleging they provided technological and financial support to Xinbi.

Treasury’s statement ties specific roles to the alleged ecosystem. It said Xinbi began moving its merchant and money-laundering networks to SafeW’s encrypted messaging application around June 2025 as scrutiny intensified. Treasury also alleged that Anwen developed XinbiPay, also referred to as NewPay—a crypto wallet and payment application used by the marketplace.

The practical effect of OFAC sanctions is straightforward: they are intended to prevent Xinbi and the designated supporting entities from accessing US property and to restrict dealings by US persons. For compliance-focused businesses—exchanges, payment processors, service providers, and other crypto-facing firms—the designations increase the compliance burden by adding more counterparties and infrastructure to screening and risk controls.

Treasury further said Xinbi processed over $24 billion in crypto and fiat since around 2022, primarily through Southeast Asia, and that its platform has been used by North Korean hackers and entities associated with the sanctioned Prince Group. Treasury linked Xinbi’s activity to broader geopolitical threat dynamics, underscoring that the scam-marketplace model intersects with sanctioned actors rather than operating in isolation.

Why investigators are emphasizing escrow, communications, and “service layers”

US officials credited Tether with assisting in the investigation, suggesting that the inquiry involved tracing stablecoin-related flows or related compliance data as part of building the case.

The enforcement strategy also reflects a growing understanding of how industrial-scale scams operate. Large fraud networks often depend on a parallel “marketplace” that sells components: payment acceptance/escrow-like functions, tooling for converting funds into usable balances, hosting or distribution channels for recruitment and services, and templates for scam websites. By targeting wallets and Telegram hosting channels, authorities are aiming to choke both the money movement and the promotional layer that drives onboarding.

TRM Labs Global Head of Policy Ari Redbord, speaking to Cointelegraph, argued that Xinbi rose to fill a gap after Huione went down. He said Xinbi became the “go-to escrow and cash-out layer” for Southeast Asia’s scam compounds, describing it as operating “at industrial scale” and moving “more than USD 36 billion.”

That perspective matters for readers trying to interpret the enforcement: it suggests the problem is not simply a single marketplace operator, but a “layer” of services that can migrate and adapt when prior platforms are disrupted.

Sanctions momentum and what to watch next

The latest US designations come after earlier UK sanctions against Xinbi. Cointelegraph previously reported that the UK government imposed sanctions on March 26, freezing UK assets connected to Xinbi and barring the platform from the country’s financial, trade, and travel networks.

With both the DOJ and Treasury taking action now, market participants should expect more follow-on scrutiny across crypto rails commonly used by scam networks—especially wallet infrastructure and communication channels that facilitate vendor operations and fund routing. For compliance teams, the new designations on Xinbi and the technology providers named by OFAC will likely require immediate updates to screening processes and vendor risk assessments.

Readers should watch for additional court filings tied to the restrained wallets and for further public steps that connect Telegram channel seizures to downstream service providers. Equally important is whether new “escrow/cash-out” and encrypted messaging routes emerge to replace capabilities authorities targeted in this case.

US authorities have restrained more than $52 million in cryptocurrency tied to Xinbi Guarantee and its vendor network while seizing wallets and Telegram channels used by the Chinese-language marketplace.

The US Department of Justice said on Sept. 9 that its Scam Center Strike Force seized two crypto wallets containing approximately $12 million and sought restraints against another 47 wallets believed to be connected to money laundering through Xinbi and vendors serving scam operators.

The two seized wallets were used by Xinbi to collect payments for vendors operating through its marketplace. Combined with the other restraints, the operation placed more than $52 million in crypto beyond the reach of Xinbi and its vendor network, according to the DOJ.

Tether assisted investigators with the operation, the department said. The stablecoin issuer had separately frozen $39.3 million in USDT across 10 Tron addresses linked to Xinbi earlier this week, crypto.news previously reported.

US seizes Xinbi wallets and Telegram channels

Court action against Xinbi extended beyond its cryptocurrency infrastructure.

On Sept. 7, the US District Court for the District of Columbia authorized the seizure of Telegram channels hosting the marketplace. A subsequently unsealed warrant described Xinbi as a Chinese-language marketplace where vendors advertised services to operators of scam centers.

According to the DOJ, the services included laundering money stolen through wire fraud, building custom websites for fraudulent investment schemes and recruiting workers for scam compounds in Southeast Asia.

Xinbi served as an intermediary in transactions between vendors and their customers. The marketplace held funds intended for vendors until the purchased services had been delivered, providing an escrow system for transactions arranged through the platform.

Investigators said funds belonging to US victims were traced to specific vendors that advertised money laundering services and posted cryptocurrency addresses for payments in Xinbi’s Telegram channels.

The enforcement action came after Xinbi continued operating despite previous attempts to remove its communications infrastructure. Telegram removed thousands of channels connected to Xinbi and Huione Guarantee in May 2025, but TRM Labs found that both networks began resurfacing under new channels and names soon afterward.

Xinbi subsequently moved parts of its operation away from Telegram as scrutiny of guarantee marketplaces increased.

Treasury sanctions Xinbi Guarantee and two technology providers

Alongside the DOJ operation, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Xinbi as a significant transnational criminal organization.

OFAC described the marketplace as a service connecting transnational criminal groups and scam center operators with merchants providing technology, financial services and other products used in cybercrime.

Treasury data put the value of digital asset and fiat transactions processed through Xinbi and its associated platforms at more than $24 billion since the marketplace emerged around 2022. Much of the activity took place in Southeast Asia.

Earlier estimates had put Xinbi’s transaction volume lower as blockchain investigators identified more addresses tied to the operation. TRM Labs estimated in February that Xinbi had processed approximately $17.9 billion since mid-2025 as activity continued despite enforcement against Telegram-based marketplaces.

OFAC said Xinbi’s platform has been used by North Korean hackers and several previously sanctioned entities, including companies linked to Cambodia’s Prince Group.

US prosecutors have accused Prince Group and its chairman, Chen Zhi, of operating a network involving crypto investment fraud, money laundering and forced-labor scam compounds. Authorities previously sought forfeiture of more than 127,000 Bitcoin connected to Chen and his associates in a case that involved one of the largest Bitcoin seizure actions pursued by US authorities.

Prince Group has denied allegations against the company.

SafeW and Anwen sanctioned over Xinbi services

OFAC sanctioned two technology companies accused of providing services that supported Xinbi’s operations.

Singapore-based SafeW Technology developed SafeW, an encrypted messaging application that Xinbi began using for its merchant and money laundering networks around June 2025, according to the Treasury.

The move came as law enforcement attention on Xinbi increased. Users were encouraged to use SafeW to coordinate transactions between buyers and sellers, reducing the marketplace’s reliance on Telegram.

Cambodia-based Anwen Technology developed XinbiPay, which was also known as NewPay. Treasury described the product as a cryptocurrency payment and digital wallet application used by Xinbi.

TRM Labs had previously documented Xinbi’s move toward SafeW and XinbiPay as the marketplace rebuilt its infrastructure following disruptions to Telegram channels. On-chain data reviewed by the blockchain intelligence company showed a brief drop in Xinbi activity in December 2025 before transaction flows rebounded in early 2026.

OFAC designated SafeW Technology and Anwen for materially assisting or providing financial, technological or other support to Xinbi.

The sanctions require property and interests belonging to the three designated entities that are in the United States or controlled by US persons to be blocked and reported to OFAC. Entities owned 50% or more by blocked persons are subject to the same restrictions.

Transactions involving their property are generally prohibited for US persons unless exempt or authorized by OFAC.

Xinbi expanded after pressure on rival marketplaces

Xinbi’s development into a major guarantee marketplace accelerated as authorities and technology companies targeted other networks used by Southeast Asian scam operations.

Blockchain investigators have described guarantee marketplaces as escrow-based platforms where merchants advertise services ranging from money laundering and payment processing to stolen information and infrastructure used by online scammers.

Huione Guarantee, later known as Haowang Guarantee, had become one of the largest networks operating under the model before Telegram shut down its marketplace in May 2025.

Treasury said cybercriminals moved parts of their activity toward Xinbi after US authorities targeted Huione Pay. Xinbi continued offering similar services to an overlapping customer base.

The UK had already targeted Xinbi on March 26, when the government sanctioned the marketplace over its alleged role in scam and money laundering operations. The restrictions froze assets connected to Xinbi in the UK and cut designated parties off from the country’s financial system.

The latest DOJ operation formed part of the Scam Center Strike Force’s campaign against networks supporting overseas scam compounds. The unit was launched in November 2025 to investigate cryptocurrency investment fraud, cyber-enabled fraud, human trafficking and money laundering tied to scam centers.

According to the DOJ, the Strike Force has now restrained approximately $938 million linked to scam money laundering operations.

Its work has expanded outside Southeast Asia. A Strike Force team recently spent two weeks in Madagascar assisting local authorities with the takedown of 13 scam centers allegedly operated by Chinese organized crime groups.

Investigators helped process more than 3,200 electronic devices recovered during the operation and interviewed people among nearly 400 arrests. The DOJ said approximately 30 of those arrested were Chinese leaders of the scam compounds who were later repatriated to China by the Chinese government.