The U.S. Cracked a $3.4 Billion Crypto Heist—and Bitcoin’s Anonymity

Federal authorities are making arrests and seizing funds with the help of new tools to identify criminals through cryptocurrency transactions. The U.S. has seized over $10 billion worth of digital currency through successful prosecutions in the past two years.

April 13, 2023 . 12:00 PM

1 min read

James Zhong stole 50,000 bitcoins worth around $600,000 from Silk Road in 2012.
Federal officials closed Silk Road on criminal grounds and seized computers that held its transaction records.
Authorities used blockchain-tracing techniques to shut down a child-pornography website, disrupt funding for terrorist organizations and retrieve $3.6 billion from a New York couple charged with laundering the proceeds of the 2016 hack of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex.
The U.S. has seized more than $10 billion worth of digital currency through successful prosecutions in the past two years.
Blockchain-analytics companies have compiled the equivalent of a blockchain address book to aid government investigators.