Bipartisan Bill Proposes Federal Task Force to Fight Crypto Theft

People over 60 filed 44,555 complaints and lost $4.43 billion, more than any other age group.

Blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs reported that wallets linked to illegal activity received $158 billion in cryptocurrency during 2025, up from $64.5 billion in 2024. Sanctions evasion and nation-state actors drove most of that increase. Illegal activity as a share of all crypto activity fell slightly to 1.2%.

The FBI's Operation Level Up, which identifies and notifies victims while a scam is still running, has saved an estimated $500 million since 2024. In 2025 alone, the operation saved $225.8 million across 3,780 recorded victims.

The new task force would fill a gap left by the Trump administration's disbanding of the DOJ's National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team in 2025. Officials at the time argued the previous administration had used NCET to regulate crypto through lawsuits rather than focus on catching criminals.

Federal enforcement of crypto-related crime is currently split across multiple agencies with overlapping but fragmented rules. The Digital Chamber, a crypto policy organization, endorsed the bill, saying law enforcement needs better tools and training. Dennis Porter of the Satoshi Action Fund said the bill would give "victims, investigators and local law enforcement the unified federal response they have been missing."

The bill still needs to pass through committees or be attached to a larger legislative package to become law.

Prior federal initiatives have operated with narrower mandates. The Joint Ransomware Task Force, established in 2021, coordinates agency responses to ransomware attacks, many of which demand payment in cryptocurrency. The Treasury Department's Scam Center Strike Force, launched last year, focuses on overseas fraud operations and has seized more than $700 million in crypto tied to scams linked to Chinese organized crime networks operating through Southeast Asian intermediaries.