Deputy AG Lisa Monaco announced the creation of the Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit -- a team tasked with training FBI agents to trace the flow of illicit cryptocurrency transactions:
The team will work with the DoJ’s newly launched National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team to investigate & prosecute criminal misuses of cryptocurrency:
“This unit will combine cryptocurrency experts into one nerve center,” Monaco stated.
Monaco’s announcement follows the DoJ’s largest ever financial recovery last week -- $3.6b in bitcoin stolen during the 2016 hack of Bitfinex.
“My message to cybercriminals is clear: The long arm of the law can and now will stretch much farther into cyberspace than you think,” Monaco stated.
Criminal groups -- often protected by nation states -- use cryptocurrencies because of their anonymity, appreciation & transaction ease:
- Stealing
from exchanges: Hackers
stole $14 billion in cryptocurrency in 2021 via theft
& fraud -- a 79% increase over 2020.
- Ransomware payments: Hackers obtained $602m in cryptocurrency via ransomware in 2021.
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