A recent FBI report lists all the cases of cryptocurrency seizures across different US regions from March to May of this year. Without giving any specific reasons, the agency has noted that assets were carried out due to violations of federal law. Thus, the FBI confiscated $1.7 million worth of cryptocurrencies. Let's take a closer look at these numbers.
Confiscated cryptocurrencies
A detailed breakdown of the seizures includes:
$147,000 in BTC;
$800,000 in ETH;
$469,000 in DAI;
$307,000 in USDT;
$20,000 in XMR.
The report also mentions small amounts of other cryptocurrencies like SOL, BNB, and DOGE.
Who helped FBI
A large portion of the confiscated crypto assets was traced back to accounts on Binance. Nearly $400,000 in cryptocurrencies were seized from several Binance accounts in May alone. Although the US has restricted access to the exchange since 2019, Binance actively collaborates with global law enforcement agencies.
However, the FBI's focus was not only on Binance. Several other exchanges, including Bybit and Freewallet, were also caught in the bureau's crosshairs, resulting in asset seizures.
Further fate of seized crypto
This is not the first instance of such practices occurring in the world of cryptocurrencies. As a matter of fact, the US government holds almost 200,000 Bitcoins associated with three largest arrests, with wallets known on Dune. Overall, the US authorities currently possess about 1% of the total Bitcoin supply.
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