US Secret Service seized $102M in crypto, according to agent Smith
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When the authorities are out to get you, there is no escape. Criminals leave traces, even in the crypto world.
United States Secret Service (USSS) can track Bitcoin and other crypto transactions, the agency director of investigations David Smith said. In some cases, he added, it was even easier than following the cash.
According to Mr. Smith, who shares his surname and position name with the fictional character from ‘The Matrix’ movies, USSS seized more than $102 million in crypto since 2015. The agent also commented on how the Secret Service was able to trace the money:
“One of the guiding principles of the blockchain is that it is a public ledger that’s shared and everyone with a little bit of computing power has access to it, including law enforcement. So the Secret Service hasn’t been doing anything that wasn’t the original intent of the blockchain. We’re just using the same tracking and tracing mechanisms that were intended.”
Mr. Smith provided the details on some of the cases. For example, in March USSS seized $1.7 million in BTC – the agency found an Estonian man who committed multiple ransomware attacks. He then was sentenced to 66 months in prison.
As Mr. Smith pointed out, even splitting the crypto assets and sending them to many wallets did not help criminals to get away. He also added that many fraudsters convert volatile cryptocurrencies to stablecoins. “Because, you know, the criminals, they’re humans too. They want to avoid some of that market volatility associated with some of the major coins.”
Source: CNBC
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