Trump to Announce Crackdown on Cryptocurrency Scams Targeting Americans
U.S. President Donald Trump plans to announce a crackdown on cryptocurrency scams targeting American citizens.
The related actions continue the direction of previous executive orders and national security memoranda, focusing on combating transnational cybercrime organizations that implement cryptocurrency fraud through fake investment platforms, phishing, and identity theft. The FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report shows approximately 181,000 cryptocurrency-related complaints, with losses around $11.37 billion, accounting for more than half of total internet crime losses, of which investment fraud losses are about $7.2 billion.
Previously, the DOJ established the Scam Center Strike Force, coordinating with the FBI, Secret Service, and Treasury Department, targeting scam centers in Southeast Asia, having seized approximately $400 million in cryptocurrency assets and applied for the forfeiture of an additional $80 million. The Brooklyn District Attorney and the FBI recently shut down 241 scam websites and seized 112 servers related to investment fraud targeting American victims from Eastern Europe.
The crackdown measures include prioritizing prosecutions, asset forfeiture to return to victims, diplomatic pressure on foreign governments, and sanctions against countries that tolerate scams. The White House emphasizes protecting American citizens from foreign-supported cyber scam networks while promoting cryptocurrency as a competitive advantage for the U.S.
The market views this as a signal of strengthened regulation and enforcement in the cryptocurrency industry, with funds potentially shifting from high-risk scam-related assets to compliant exchanges and regulated platforms, benefiting legitimate cryptocurrency businesses and investor confidence, while putting pressure on cross-border scam networks and related infrastructure providers.
Enforcement data and actions have led to the shutdown of some scam websites and asset freezes, but cross-border networks continue to evolve, requiring ongoing international cooperation.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
The Trump administration previously signed an executive order in March 2026, directing the Department of Justice to prioritize prosecutions of cyber fraud, establish victim restitution programs, and coordinate diplomatic and sanction tools to address transnational scam centers, while expanding the capacity to disrupt foreign cybercrime through national security memoranda, including authorizing U.S. companies to participate in monitoring and effect operations.
In terms of capital flow, law enforcement directly cuts off scam funding by seizing cryptocurrency assets and server infrastructure, shifting resources from victim losses to government confiscation and restitution, strategically aligning with policies to promote the U.S. as a cryptocurrency hub to attract compliant capital rather than merely expanding enforcement.
Similar to other countries' targeted actions against "pig-butchering" and investment scams, such as the joint crackdown on scam parks in several Southeast Asian countries, the U.S. is currently in a phase of expanding enforcement coverage through task forces and administrative tools, shifting focus from single-point arrests to infrastructure destruction.
Essentially, this represents a regulatory shift: the government is incorporating cryptocurrency scams into the national security and transnational crime framework, utilizing asset forfeiture, diplomatic pressure, and technological disruption to reprice the costs of cross-border scams, forcing networks to shift from American targets to harder-to-trace regions or methods.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
Scam losses reach record levels, enforcement shifts to infrastructure disruption.
Asset forfeiture is a means of fund recovery, with transnational networks relying on diplomatic pressure.
A secure environment facilitates industry expansion, with regulation being a transfer of pricing power.