US Secret Service Keeps $400 Million Worth Of Digital Assets In A Single Wallet

A recent report by Bloomberg revealed that one of the richest U.S government agencies is the U.S Secret Service, who have quietly accumulated $400 million in digital assets over the past decade.

It was also exposed that the agency's crypto had a single cold-storage wallet, where it had stored all its treasure trove of digital assets it had previously seized from a string of investigations.

The agency's Global Investigative Operations Center (GIOC) relies on open-source intelligence, blockchain analysis, and meticulous investigative work to trace illicit funds.

One common scheme involves scammers luring victims into seemingly legitimate crypto investment platforms. Victims are often shown initial profits to build trust, only for the platforms to disappear with their deposits.

Unmasking Scammers Through Digital Forensic

Lam’s team uses a combination of domain records, blockchain transaction tracing, and even VPN slip-ups to identify perpetrators.

In one case, a single crypto payment leads investigators to another wallet. In another case, a brief VPN failure accidentally exposed the scammer's IP address, helping agents reconstruct the scam’s digital trail.

Kali Smith, who heads the Secret Service’s crypto strategy, oversees a team that has trained officials in more than 60 countries to detect and investigate online financial crimes.

The agency has focused on jurisdictions with weak regulatory oversight or those offering residency programs to foreign nationals.

“Sometimes after just a week-long training, they can be like, ‘Wow, we didn’t even realize that this is occurring in our country.”

The Secret Service’s investigations have uncovered scams ranging from romance-investment schemes to sextortion.

In of its investigations involved an Idaho teenager who was extorted after sending a nude photo to an online stranger. The scammer demanded $300 twice before the victim sought help from police.

Analysts traced the payments through another coerced teenager acting as a money mule, ultimately leading to an account associated with nearly $4.1 million in transactions under a Nigerian passport.

The suspected extortionist was arrested at the Guildford, England airport, and is currently awaiting extradition.

Crypto Scams Accounting For Half Of US Internet Losses

Crypto-related scams have become the leading driver of internet crime losses in the United States. In 2024, the FBI reported that crypto fraud accounted for more than half of the total internet crime losses that year.

And it seems that trend is being carried into 2025. In just the first half of 2025, there has been $2.47 billion losses from hacks, scams, and exploits, marking a nearly 3% increase from the previous year.

Recovering stolen digital assets often relies on cooperation from industry players. Companies like Coinbase and Tether have played a pivotal role in high-profile cases by analyzing blockchain transactions and freezing suspicious wallets.

One of the largest single recoveries involved $225 million in USDT linked to romance scams, underscoring the importance of swift industry action in combating crypto crime.