Secret Service Builds $400M Crypto Stash Through Decade of Seizures

- Secret Service seizes nearly $400 million in crypto over a decade. - Investigators use blockchain analysis, OSINT, and tracking criminal errors. On July 6, 2025, Cointelegraph reported, citing Bloomberg’s coverage from the previous day, that the U.S. Secret Service has secretly amassed one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency cold wallets. Through a decade-long crackdown, the agency seized $400 million by targeting fraudulent schemes using blockchain analysis, open-source intelligence, and exploiting criminal mistakes. According to the report, the agency’s Global Investigative Operations Center (GIOC) is central to tracking and recovering these illicit funds. At a law enforcement conference in Bermuda, Jamie Lam, an investigative analyst for the Secret Service, discussed the agency’s activities and highlighted scammers' deceptive methods, such as luring victims onto fake crypto trading platforms or using romance scams. The Secret Service stores a large share of the seized assets, which represent the proceeds from sophisticated fraudulent schemes, in a single cold-storage wallet. Lam explained that investigators use crucial tactics to uncover these operations, including tracking domain registrations, analyzing blockchain transactions, and identifying IP addresses exposed when criminals accidentally deactivate their VPNs. In one widely reported case, for instance, investigators traced extortion linked to a Nigerian passport and recovered over $4.1 million from related transactions, which led to the arrest of the suspect in the United Kingdom, where he now awaits extradition. Kali Smith, who heads the Secret Service’s broader cryptocurrency enforcement strategy, leads a team that has trained officials from over 60 countries to detect and combat online financial crimes. The agency focuses its efforts on jurisdictions with weak regulatory oversight or citizenship-by-investment programs that can facilitate anonymity. These enforcement actions come as crypto-related crime has risen substantially, accounting for more than half of all U.S. internet fraud losses in 2024, with Americans losing $9.3 billion to scams last year. Moreover, thieves have already stolen over $2.47 billion through hacks, schemes, and exploits in the first half of 2025. Consequently, recovering stolen cryptocurrency often requires collaboration with private industry players. Coinbase and Tether, for example, have assisted by tracing transactions and freezing compromised wallets, contributing to one of the most significant recoveries where the agency seized $225 million in USDT tied to romance scams. According to CoinMarketCap, as of 11:08 UTC on July 6, Tether USDt (USDT) was trading at $1, representing a 0.007% decrease in value over the last 24 hours.