The United States government has seized $225 million linked to a sprawling cryptocurrency investment scam, the largest recovery of its kind to date.
In a statement released Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said the FBI and U.S. Secret Service tracked the stolen funds using blockchain analysis and other investigative tools. While no arrests have been confirmed, authorities identified the money as proceeds from a global crypto fraud network that tricked victims into bogus investment schemes.
The fraud targeted dozens of Americans and over 400 victims worldwide, convincing them to invest in what they believed were legitimate cryptocurrency opportunities.
According to officials, the network behind the scam operated an advanced money laundering operation, shuffling the funds through hundreds of thousands of transactions to mask their origins and ownership.
“These scams prey on trust, often resulting in extreme financial hardship,” said Shawn Bradstreet, head of the Secret Service’s San Francisco office.
He expressed hope that the recovered funds could eventually be returned to the rightful victims.
The announcement follows a sharp rise in crypto-related fraud. In 2024 alone, losses from such scams totaled over $5.8 billion, U.S. authorities noted.
