The US Secret Service has amassed about $400 million in confiscated cryptocurrency
Date: 2025-07-07 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: CRYPTO PAYMENTS
Most of this amount is in one cold wallet, making it one of the largest in the world in terms of cryptocurrency volume. The funds were seized during various investigations conducted by the Secret Service's Global Investigation and Operations Center (GIOC).
The agency's specialists used blockchain analysis, open sources, and other modern tools to track and seize illegal digital assets. Fraud related to cryptocurrency has become one of the main causes of Internet crime in the United States. In 2024 alone, US citizens lost $9.3 billion to crypto scams, more than half of all losses from online fraud, which reached $16.6 billion.
Elderly people were particularly hard hit, losing almost $2.8 billion by investing in fraudulent investment platforms. Victims were promised high returns on cryptocurrency investments, and the first investments actually brought a small but stable income. When victims increased their investment amounts, often by borrowing money, the platforms suddenly closed and the clients' balances disappeared.
One of the largest seizures was the confiscation of over $225 million in USDT, a stablecoin from Tether. This happened as part of an investigation into a large-scale fraudulent scheme.
In one of the investigations, GIOC employees took advantage of a temporary VPN glitch to identify a domain name registered by the organizers of the fraud. In another case, an investigation was conducted based on a complaint from an Idaho teenager who was blackmailed with an intimate photo. He paid the extortionist $300 twice before going to the police.
The Secret Service reconstructed the crime using blockchain data, screenshots, receipts, and a fictitious payer. They were able to track down an account registered to a Nigerian passport that processed about 6,000 transactions worth almost $4.1 million. The perpetrator was detained in the UK upon arrival.
To successfully return the stolen crypto assets, GIOC cooperates with companies in the crypto industry. For example, Coinbase and Tether confirmed their participation by providing information and blocking suspicious wallets.
For example, in February 2025, $8.2 million was returned to victims, and in March, another $7 million.
Thus, thanks to modern technologies and close cooperation with crypto companies, the US Secret Service achieves significant results in the fight against crypto fraud and the return of stolen funds.
