Agents and analysts regularly watch the circulation of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on the blockchain, comparable to old-fashioned surveillance, according to David Smith, assistant director of investigations. The Secret Service is most recognized for protecting presidents, but it also performs financial and cybercrime operations. Smith further added,
“When you follow a digital currency wallet, it’s not different than an email address that has some correlating identifiers. once a person and another person make a transaction, and that gets into the blockchain, we have the ability to follow that email address or wallet address, if you will, and trace it through the blockchain.”
Furthermore, according to information provided by the department, more than $102 million in cryptocurrency has been seized in 254 cases since 2015.
Other investigations focused on a Russian cybercrime ring that used a crypto exchange to launder money, as well as a ransomware attack linked to Russian and North Korean criminals, in which Bitcoin payments made by US companies to end the attacks were sent to the suspects’ cryptocurrency wallets.
Secret service’s cryptocurrency awareness hub
While the Secret Service is best recognised for protecting American political leaders and their families, it is also responsible for maintaining the country’s economic integrity. The institution was founded in 1865 with the goal of fighting widespread counterfeiting, but it later broadened its scope.
To deter the unlawful usage of digital assets, the Secret Service developed a cryptocurrency awareness hub in February.
Shaun W. Bridges, a corrupt US Secret Service agent, pled guilty in 2015 to stealing $800,000 from the US government during an investigation into the online illicit market Silk Road. The former spy was sentenced to a second prison term in 2017.
According to Glassnode statistics, the US government owns about $4 billion in seized Bitcoin, placing it with business intelligence firm MicroStrategy and asset management Grayscale among the top holders of the largest cryptocurrency.