U.S. authorities are pursuing the forfeiture of more than $25 million in cryptocurrency that prosecutors allege is connected to romance and investment scams, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

The office said investigations into cryptocurrency-related scams led to the seizure of more than $25 million in digital assets. Forfeiture is a legal process through which the government seeks to permanently take control of property alleged to be proceeds of criminal activity or property used to facilitate criminal conduct.

Because forfeiture is an action against the assets rather than a criminal conviction, the cryptocurrency remains tied to alleged, not proven, wrongdoing unless and until the case is resolved. In such cases, the legal question is whether the property is forfeitable under the applicable statutes, separate from whether any individual has been convicted of a crime.

How romance and investment scams use crypto

Romance scams generally involve a fraudster creating a false online relationship with a victim and then using that trust to request money. Investment scams typically promote fabricated high-return opportunities and often direct victims to platforms controlled by the scammer.

Cryptocurrency is commonly used as a payment channel in both types of schemes because transfers can settle quickly, move across borders without a bank intermediary and be routed through multiple wallets in an effort to complicate tracing. The two categories frequently overlap in so-called “pig butchering” fraud, where a romance-based approach is used to steer a victim into a fake crypto investment.

The scale of such losses has been documented by federal agencies. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center described the growing financial impact of investment and confidence fraud in its 2025 annual report, which tracks complaints and reported losses across fraud categories, including cases involving cryptocurrency.

The risks facing crypto users are not limited to social engineering. Security researchers have also documented technical attacks, including malware frameworks targeting crypto investors, that seek to compromise wallets directly.

Why the seizure matters for crypto users

A forfeiture action involving tens of millions of dollars shows that law enforcement agencies are tracing alleged scam proceeds on-chain and seeking to recover them. The action comes amid a broader federal focus on fraud networks, including initiatives such as the Justice Department’s Scam Center Strike Force.

For individual holders, the case illustrates that transaction speed and pseudonymity can create risks as well as investigative trails. The same features scammers may try to exploit can also leave a permanent public record that investigators can analyze. Careful recordkeeping and the use of reputable tools, including established crypto portfolio trackers, may help users identify and document suspicious activity earlier.

The enforcement action does not implicate the broader cryptocurrency industry. The forfeiture effort targets assets allegedly linked to specific criminal conduct, and the legitimate exchanges, custodians and platforms that make up the crypto sector are not described as targets of the action.

The Justice Department has not disclosed, in the material reviewed, the identities of specific defendants or a schedule for the case. As a result, the timeline for resolving the forfeiture remains open, including any later court determination over whether the seized assets can be permanently forfeited.