Secret Service seizes $400M in crypto, cold wallet among world’s largest

The U.S. Secret Service has seized nearly $400 million in cryptocurrency assets over the past decade, accumulating one of the world’s largest government-controlled crypto cold wallets. This significant haul stems from a series of investigations into international crypto scams, including fake investment platforms that lure victims with initial profits before disappearing with their funds.

The seizures were made possible by the Secret Service’s Global Investigative Operations Center (GIOC), which specializes in tracking digital financial crimes across borders using blockchain analysis, open-source tools, and exploiting investigative opportunities such as VPN glitches that expose IP addresses.

The agency has also collaborated closely with major crypto companies like Coinbase and Tether to trace and freeze illicit funds, with one of the largest single seizures involving $225 million in USDT.

Much of the recovered crypto is held in a single cold-storage wallet, making it one of the largest known cold wallets controlled by any government. The Secret Service, under the leadership of Smith, has also trained law enforcement and prosecutors in over 60 countries to combat crypto-related fraud and exploitation, especially in jurisdictions with weak regulations or residency-for-sale schemes.

The operation highlights the rise of crypto scams as a leading cause of cybercrime losses in the U.S., with Americans losing $9.3 billion to crypto scams in 2024 alone, and underscores the importance of global cooperation and advanced digital forensics in fighting financial crime in the digital age.

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