The United States Secret Service has amassed one of the largest confiscated cryptocurrency reserves globally, acquiring nearly $400 million in digital assets through various operations.
Key Highlights:
- The Secret Service has seized approximately $400 million in cryptocurrency from online scams over the past decade.
- Utilizing blockchain analysis, investigators have traced these funds to successfully recover millions in stolen assets.
- The agency’s global training initiatives have unveiled numerous scam networks and strengthened international enforcement collaboration.
According to a report by Bloomberg, a significant portion of the seized cryptocurrency is currently held in a singular cold-storage wallet, positioning the Secret Service as an unexpected major player in the world of crypto custody.
Agents at the agency’s Global Investigative Operations Center (GIOC) have uncovered a multitude of fraud operations, frequently initiated by deceptive messages designed to lead victims to polished-looking cryptocurrency investment platforms.
Scammers Dangle Fake Profits, Vanish With Victims’ Crypto: Secret Service
These fraudulent websites typically showcase enticing early returns to solicit larger investments, ultimately disappearing without a trace.
“That’s how they operate,” Jamie Lam, an investigative analyst with the Secret Service, explained during a recent training seminar in Bermuda.
“They’ll send you a picture of an attractive individual, but it’s likely some old man in Russia.”
Employing tools such as domain record searches, blockchain analytics, and occasionally seizing a scammer’s VPN error, Lam’s team has successfully traced ill-gotten gains across international borders.
These investigations have enabled the agency to recover substantial sums while illustrating how the promise of anonymity in cryptocurrency can also be a double-edged sword for criminals.
Kali Smith leads the agency’s crypto strategy, focusing on training law enforcement worldwide to identify and apprehend digital wrongdoers.
Her team has conducted workshops in more than 60 nations, particularly targeting regions where weak oversight or lenient residency programs have made them appealing to scammers.
“Often, after just a week of training, participants express surprise at how prevalent these scams are in their area,” Smith noted.
One notable case involved a teenager from Idaho, who was blackmailed with incriminating photos, and payments were laundered through another teen who was coerced into serving as a money mule.
Analysts followed the funds through nearly 6,000 transactions, ultimately tracing them to an account connected with a Nigerian passport. British authorities apprehended the suspect upon their arrival in Guildford, England.
To facilitate the recovery of stolen assets, the Secret Service has collaborated with companies like Coinbase and Tether, which assisted in tracing and freezing relevant funds.
In a notable operation, the agency recovered $225 million in USDT associated with romance-themed investment scams.
This week, the Secret Service, in conjunction with law enforcement allies, confiscated over $225 million in cryptocurrency from a complex blockchain-based money laundering organization, marking the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the agency’s history.
https://t.co/JoF6nVvWGM pic.twitter.com/GTBCNaQwD1
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) June 20, 2025
Crypto Hacks, Scams Cost Investors $2.2B in H1 2025: CertiK
Investors in cryptocurrency lost more than $2.2 billion to hacks, scams, and security breaches during the first half of 2025, largely attributed to wallet compromises and phishing attacks, as reported by CertiK’s recent security analysis.
Incidents involving breaches of wallets contributed $1.7 billion in losses from just 34 events, while phishing scams accounted for over $410 million across 132 attacks.
Two significant incidents—Bybit’s $1.5 billion hack in February and Cetus Protocol’s $225 million exploit in May—particularly skewed the year’s total losses, ultimately approaching $1.78 billion.
Excluding these major events, losses more closely mirrored those of previous years, totaling around $690 million.
Ethereum remains the most targeted asset, suffering losses exceeding $1.6 billion across 175 incidents.
The report highlighted the increasing sophistication of phishing schemes and ongoing risks stemming from social engineering tactics, urging crypto users to verify links, avoid dubious websites, and utilize hardware wallets.
