- Two separate law enforcement efforts cumulatively froze more than $300m in stolen crypto
- Crypto heavyweights are joining forces with law enforcement
- Freezing assets is not the same as retrieving them
The very nature of the blockchain often makes retrieving money stolen through scams almost impossible, however two separate announcements have recently confirmed more than $300 million of stolen crypto assets were frozen by law enforcement.
First, T3 FCU, an initiative built by crypto heavyweights TRON, Tether, and TRM Labs, alongside Binance, which also helped freeze roughly $6 million stolen through various “pig butchering” and romance scams, has claimed it successfully froze more than $250 million in illicit assets globally in its first year.
“Freezing over $250 million in illicit assets in less than a year is a powerful testament to what’s possible when the industry comes together with a shared goal,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.
Freezing and retrieving
This came alongside a separate announcement from Chainalysis, which said over the past six months it collaborated with agencies across North America on two initiatives: Project Atlas (led by the Ontario Provincial Police), and Operation Avalanche (led by the BC Securities Commission).
Cumulatively, these two operations uncovered more than $74 million in combined losses and led to the freezing of “tens of millions in illicit funds,” bringing the total to more than $300 million.
“Driven from Canada but truly global in scope, Project Atlas identified more than 2,000 crypto wallet addresses linked to fraud victims across 14 countries, including Canada, the US, Australia, Germany, and the UK,” Chainalysis explained.
“This global reach underscores both the borderless nature of cryptocurrency fraud and the international coordination required to combat it effectively.”
Although neither report discusses it – it is perhaps worth mentioning that there is a big difference between assets being “frozen” and being seized, or retrieved. Freezing assets simply means that the scammers are prevented from moving or cashing out the funds, but it doesn’t mean the victims got their money back.
Actual recovery and restitution often require lengthy legal processes, proof of ownership, and coordination across jurisdictions. Plenty of water under the bridge before that happens.
Via BleepingComputer