FBI adds assets worth $1.7 million to its growing bag of confiscated crypto

Quick Take

  • The FBI seized almost $1.7 million in crypto between March and July 2023.
  • The vast majority of seizures were from Binance accounts.

A new filing from the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows the agency confiscated nearly $1.7 million worth of cryptocurrency between March and July this year.

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation gives notice that property listed was seized for federal forfeiture for violation of federal law," the document stated.

Most of the seizures consisted of ether, with tokens worth $800,000 confiscated. The agency seized ether valued at $463,811 in the Eastern District of Virginia, the largest confiscation on the list.

Out of all U.S. states, Florida and Virginia had the most confiscated crypto assets. 

Large amounts of stablecoins were also seized. In one case, DAI worth $469,000 was seized in the Eastern District of Virginia. There were eight listed incidents of USDT seizure, but no confiscations of USDC.

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Other cryptocurrencies seized included $147,000 worth of bitcoin and $20,000 worth of Monero. Altcoins such as Solana and Cardano were also listed in the confiscated property notification.

Memecoins, too, found their way into the FBI's growing bag of seized cryptocurrencies, with one listing of $200 worth of Dogecoin.

Seizures from Binance predominate

Each entry in the notification gave details of where the forfeited property was taken from, and digital assets were described as being removed from hardware wallets and cryptocurrency exchange accounts.

There were 46 listed confiscations from Binance accounts, but none from other major exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken, Kucoin and OKX.


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Brian McGleenon is a UK-based markets reporter for The Block. He has worked as a financial journalist and producer for multiple news outlets over the years, such as Fuji Television, The Independent, Yahoo Finance, The Evening Standard, and The Daily Express. Brian is also a screenwriter and producer with one feature film produced and one in development with Northern Ireland Screen. Apart from web3 and cryptocurrency developments, he is also interested in geopolitics, environmental issues, artificial intelligence, and longevity research. Get in touch via email [email protected].

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