A landmark collaboration between cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and the U.S. Secret Service has resulted in the seizure of $225 million in USDT linked to “pig butchering” scams, marking the largest cryptocurrency seizure in Secret Service history.
Historic $225M crypto seizure exposes massive fraud network through unprecedented public-private partnership.
The operation, which also involved Tether and other federal agencies, targeted sophisticated investment fraud schemes that have victimized hundreds across North America and Asia.
Pig butchering scams—named for the way scammers “fatten up” victims before taking their money—typically begin with fake relationships that gradually escalate to fraudulent investment proposals.
In this case, investigators identified over 400 victims, including more than 130 Coinbase customers who collectively lost $2.3 million on the platform alone.
The investigation unfolded through intensive collaboration, with Coinbase’s compliance and threat-intelligence teams working alongside Secret Service agents for over four months.
Their daily investigative sprints in late February enabled rapid victim identification and evidence building through advanced blockchain tracing techniques that mapped illicit fund movements between addresses and platforms.
Tether played a vital role in the asset recovery process.
After freezing 39 wallet addresses containing stolen USDT in November 2023, the company later burned the seized tokens and minted equivalent new ones directly to a Secret Service-controlled wallet following a judicial order.
These recovered funds will be held pending distribution to verified victims after legal review.
The criminal operations behind these scams were primarily based in Southeast Asia, where trafficking rings forced individuals to work in scam compounds targeting global victims.
The elaborate money laundering scheme involved multi-stage transfers through various exchange accounts, particularly OKX. The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a formal seizure order that was instrumental in recovering the stolen assets.
Victims seeking to recover their funds must submit claims through the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center with the code BT06182025 to verify their eligibility for reimbursement.
This cross-border operation highlights the growing sophistication of cryptocurrency-based financial crimes—and the equally sophisticated response from law enforcement and industry partners. Security experts recommend users implement strong account security measures like two-factor authentication to protect themselves from similar scams.
